the art of catching smoke
by blue rain rhapsody
Summary: Because that's what Leo Valdez was: smoke. Smoke that always slipped through her fingers and dissipated when she tried to breathe. Leo/Piper. AU. Somewhat dark/triggers. [3/3] part three: ashes. Complete series.
1. sparks

_**title**_: the art of catching smoke [sparks - 1/3]

_**summary**_: Because that's what Leo Valdez was: smoke. Smoke that always slipped through her fingers and dissipated when she tried to breathe.

_**pairing**_: leo/piper [side pairings of percy/annabeth, mentioned piper/jason]

**_rating_**: T [definitely strong language and implied ~_smut_~]

_**disclaimer**_: rick riordan owns pjo and I, do not

_**a/n**_- alrighty folks this is how things roll in my world of AU's and they are almost always dark and depressing. this is a mortal/normal au and most things stay the same. also i apologize for leo's oocness in certain points but i don't know i also kind of like it, haha. this set works in three parts, each part is about 13,000 words each. expect huge updates. each part will add one more step to the story until the end.  
(side note; i feel the power of john green running through me.)

* * *

_**the art of catching smoke**_

* * *

_sparks_

* * *

She's not sure why she is drawn to him. Maybe it was the way he talked. Or the way he always cursed in Spanish, or his thick early morning accent that came out when she woke him up (after, of course, she snuck into his room while everyone else was asleep).

Maybe it was the way he walked. Kind of lopsided and unbalanced (much like his personality), but also confident and supportive to other people and the world (except to himself). But if there was one thing she knew for sure; is that she loved him more than anything else, with every part of her heart, every part of her soul, and every part of her existence. And that is a _lot_.

But she's pretty sure it was just the way Leo Valdez simply _lived_. He didn't take life as a joke (despite all the cracks he made about _everything_), and he certainly didn't take anyone else's life as a joke, he just was always happy about everything all the time. And for someone who was the cliche rich girl with a famous daddy and attention problems, she needed a little happy in her life.

And for what seemed like forever in the shortest amount of time, Piper McLean was happy.

(Such short, short, pieces of forever she spent with him.)

* * *

They met in a summer camp. She'd recently gotten in trouble with the law, but miss pretty, perfect, Piper McLean never stayed in trouble for long. Her father could just bail her out when she got in a tight spot and continue on life like nothing happened. Him, on the other hand, was poor, orphaned, and rarely had enough money to buy anything. She could buy anything in the world. He could buy nothing. There was nothing more about them that could be more opposite.

They drew together like magnets. Or some other, greater force, that pulled the chords of their being together and smashed them into one another in a cosmic explosion of fate and destiny that became a simple trip and a head bump.

She had been walking down to her cabin with her bags and her sleeping mat, along with a tiny foldable map with so many creases and wrinkles she could barely read the signs, trying to find Cabin 10 so she could set her stuff down. Her bag seemed to have gained a thousand extra pounds with every step she took, making it seem more labored and more painstakingly annoying.

Being the new kid was never easy the first time around. And she wasn't used to change. This would be her first year at another camp or school or whatever this was supposed to be and she didn't know anybody.

She bumped into him on accident. Really, an honest accident. (_Since when are accidents honest?_ she wondered, but didn't voice those thoughts. _Maybe fate was an honest accident_.)

He was running from someone. Or a group of someones. She could never be sure with Leo, because of his ability to make things funny that could also tick people off in a second and send them running after him to punch his lights out.

She didn't know she ran into someone until she heard the curses and the pain on her head.

"Hey watch where you're go- _OW_!" she yelled.

"JESUS CHRI-" the other person yelled, along with a few curses and some words in Spanish she didn't quite catch. Piper fell backwards into the dirt and scraped up her elbows, spitting out dust and a few of her own swears.

Instead of getting up, Piper leaned back even further until her hair was in the dirt and hitting her head against the ground with an irritated groan. "Thanks a lot."

"Hey," the person she ran into stepped in front of the sun and cast a long shadow. For a minute she saw a strange golden fiery outline like a halo over the stranger, his teeth glittering like little suns themselves. "Sorry about that. I was in a rush."

"Obviously," Piper snapped at him and pushed herself up from her elbows and sat up. Her bags had exploded from the impact- leaving clothes and all her belongings strewn out along the lawn.

A few kids laughed and ran over, snatching up a few of her things, and ran off laughing with them. One of them picked up her iPod- one of the few things that kept her sane- and ran off with it with a maniacal laugh. "Hey!" she screamed and chased a few steps after the thief before she tripped over another one of her bags. "Give that back! That's mine!"

They vanished from sight, leaving her breathing heavily on the ground and muttering every curse she held in her mind.

Footsteps wandered over to her with an awkward gait. "Need a hand?" His voice was rough and gravelly, like he was trying to sound more like a man than an awkward pre-teen that was suffering from voice changes.

She rolled over and glared at him. "No." she said irritably. He wasn't in the bright angelic halo of the sun anymore, and a dark shadow passed over his face from looking down at her.

He offered his hand to her anyways, which she refused to take. She pushed herself up and stood up, almost falling over again from her unbalanced limbs. He stepped back a little, awkwardly drawing little circles in the sand with the tip of his shoe before looking back at her apologetically. He was tanned, maybe from working out in the summer, and he had a rounder face that suggested he looked younger than he actually was. His eyes twinkled with what she assumed was amusement and merriment at the same time, a dull brown she couldn't seem to break the gaze of.

"I'm sorry about your stuff," he apologized, but it didn't sound all sincere.

Piper was used to being tough, but she wasn't sure how she would survive the night without music plugged in her ears. "Got my iPod stolen," she grumbled.

"I'll help you pick this stuff up," he offered.

"Go away," she said again.

He held out his hand. "My name's Leo. Leo Valdez. Who are you?"

"Walking away," she huffed in a snippy tone and stalked back over to her bags, shoved loose things back in and dusted off a few of her shirts before stuffing them inside her already overflowing suitcase.

She dragged out the handle and wheeled the case along the ground, her other bag slung over her shoulder and her sunglasses hanging loosely off her shirt. Her hair was a mess and there was dirt on her face, but she couldn't care less. She just wanted to find her stupid cabin and take a nice nap in one of the hammocks she saw lounging around earlier and ignore the world. And then beat up the kid who stole her iPod. Yeah, that sounded nice.

The boy who called himself Leo Valdez hopped after her. "I could help you with that," he offered and watched her struggling to carry all her bags and her suitcase on one person, herself, who felt more like a mule for transport than a camper enjoying the summer.

"Screw off," she told him sharply.

He slid in front of her without tripping, which she assumed was an achievement, based on the surprised and delighted look on his face. "Just being a kind neighbor, which cabin are you in?"

"Cabin 10," she answered and narrowed her eyes to glare at him because it was his and nobody's business. "Do you know where that is?"

"Oh, tough cabin," he said. "But yeah, it's the cabin next to mine. I'll show you the way."

She gave him a long dark look before sighing. "Fine."

"I'll take that," he scooped up one of her bags and slung it over his shoulder like an awkward man purse. "Come on, new best friend."

"I am not your friend," she muttered.

"Oh, you'll change your mind," he said with a wink. "All the ladies wanna hop on the Valdez express!"

She snorted. "Just show me the cabin."

Along the way he asked her annoying questions. Such as (and not limited to); What's your name? Where did you come from? Why are you attending Camp Halfblood this summer? What is your favorite color? Why is your hair cut like that? What's your favorite song? Do you like summer? _Blah blah blah_. She got sick of his annoying questions very quickly.

"Cabin 10," he announced and waved his hand dramatically towards the cabin. She was so relieved his game of questions was over that she dropped her suitcase on the spot, and the handle swung back and hit the back of her ankle. She stared at the little house in front of her, the one she would be living in for the next three months. It was a simple wooden boarded cabin with clean white shutters and empty flower boxes hanging from the windows. The little door on the top of a tiny three-step stair had one sign in pink and gold embellishments; Cabin 10. The cabin looked more like a house from a Disney storybook, and she almost pictured Snow White or any of the other princesses prancing out of the door at any moment and showering her in birds and flower petals.

"Thanks," she said and picked up her suitcase from the ground. He handed her the bag he carried for her and they stood awkwardly.

"I'm Piper," she held out her other free hand by balancing the handle of the suitcase on her hip. "Piper McLean."

He shook her hand firmly, a stronger grip than she would have guessed, his teeth glittering like little halos of light in his mouth. "Well, it's very nice to meet you, Piper McLean. And about earlier, I'm sorry I ran into you-"

"It's fine," she said. Although she was still a little miffed about it, but she didn't voice those thoughts aloud.

"What about your stuff?" he frowned as if he was genuinely concerned for her. (_No_, she thought. _No one here cares about you. Stop now before you convince yourself of that_.)

"It's fine, really." She attempted to drag the suitcase up the steps while Leo watched. He was short, she noticed. He had lean arms and lean legs- not that he was particularly skinny, he was just small. Even his face seemed small.

"I can get your iPod back if you want," he offered. "I think I know who took it."

"That would be nice," Piper spoke gratefully.

"I'll see what I can do about that," he winked and saluted her. "See you around, Pipes."

"It's Piper, you little-"

He dashed off with light feet and a grin wider than the space on his face. She sighed and pushed open the handle of the door and entered the cabin.

* * *

It was official; she had only been there for a few hours, and she hated camp.

First off; her cabin mates were all girls. And they were not the type of girls she liked to be around. The ones that wore twenty pounds of makeup until their faces were caked with so much fake appearances and flaws and the smell- oh god, the _smell_- the cabin reeked of designer perfume and insecurities to be traced a mile away. She gagged every time she walked into the room.

She got a bottom bunk, which might have been the only thing moderately comfortable through her day. She shoved her suitcase under her bunk and placed her bag on her bunk, taking out her towel, toothbrush, and her other small items she brought with her. In a little plastic bag was a tiny collection of photos, which she attached to the wall next to her bunk and on the head of her bed. She stuck the pictures of her and her dad on the wall and the only picture she had of her mother on the head of the bed. She wanted someone to be watching over her in the three months her dad sent her away so she would stay out of trouble and out of his hair. Just three months, he promised. The court is filing a suit if you don't. Just three months, you can count down the days until you can see me again.

That entire conversation wasn't even done in _person_. She talked to him over the phone- or Skype, or whatever her dad was online with. It was so unfair. She had a father that couldn't even pay enough attention to her to at least _stick around_. Her own _mother _ didn't want to stay with them. Piper was tired of being used and tossed away behind the back of a fancy car that sped off into the distance of a beautiful setting sun while she sat in the dust and did little to help herself up.

She stared at the picture of her father next to the wall. It was the picture of her and her father at the beach, the one in the Bahamas they visited last year. Her dad was wearing a blue pair of swim shorts and grinning into the camera with his surfboard leaned up next to him, a classic movie star smile that beamed brightly even into the photo. She stood next to him with her own surfboard, her hair blown to one side and smiling so widely she might have been caught mid-laugh. Piper traced her hand on the photo. She missed those days. They were short and sweet, and then the flavor faded and left a bitter taste in her mouth instead. It was like biting into an apple and finding out it was a lemon.

"Hey sweets!" Her cabin counselor was also annoying. Her name was Drew something, but she was a classic barbie doll girl, wearing so much eyeliner and mascara she looked like a raccoon that got trapped in a makeup manufacturing factory. Her lips were full and glistened of bright berry chapstick and the most disgusting perfume Piper had ever been near enough to inhale. "In a few minutes we're gonna head down to the pavilion to hear some announcements and meet the other cabins." She smiled her sickly sweet smile that matched with her sickly sweet voice, her lips curled back a little as if she pitied the rest of their miserable lives and she was going to be queen of the universe and they were expected to be her right hand maidens. Hell no, Piper thought.

"Lacy, I see you over there," she focused in on the little girl Piper shared a bunk with, the one on top. She was maybe twelve, with honey blonde hair and silver braces. She squeaked and hid behind her hands when Drew gazed on her.

Piper stood up. "Alright, let's go then," she crossed her arms and huffed.

Drew's killer gaze narrowed in on hers. "Oh, girly, I think you're in the wrong cabin," she smiled at her sweetly as if what she said was correct, and oh no, Piper must've gotten the wrong cabin and she was in the wrong place. I wish, Piper sighed in her head.

"No, this is cabin ten," Piper corrected her. "According to my schedule, I'm supposed to be here."

Drew flaunted over with ease on her ridiculous high heels, and Piper was amazed she didn't snap her ankle. Or her neck. "Well, dumpster girl, you gotta work with us if you wanna be part of cabin ten."

"Screw off," Piper spat in her face.

Drew gaped and momentarily looked like a confused owl. Her mouth pursed close into a smile (that was not friendly or sweet anymore) and said "Ooh, honey, see we have certain policies here at camp. One of them is not to disrespect the head counselor. Since it's your first day, I'll let it go." She twisted the smile in an attempt to look sweet and nice again, but it looked more like a crocodile learning to grin. "But, be warned, next time to break a rule there will be...consequences."

"Whatever," Piper said.

"Time to go!" Drew chirped and clapped her hands a few times for attention. Her steely snake eyed glare at Piper dropped and she headed for the door. "Last one out turns out the lights, thanks hon!"

Piper was the last to leave, and she flicked off the light with a scowl. She looked one more time around the sickly sweet cabin and resisted the urge to vomit on the girly comforters and the walls. Piper wasn't sure how she was going to survive three months of camp if this was her home.

* * *

Dinner was no better. Most people had already been participants in the camp for more than a few years, so they already had friends and people to talk to. The counselors stood up at the head near the leader of the camp, Chiron, talking to each other and catching up with the latest gossip.

She unwillingly searched the crowd for the boy she met earlier. All the other campers were already talking to people, or cracking jokes and catching up with the lives of one another in the last nine months.

"Hey there," someone tapped her shoulder. She spun around and saw the boy from before. "You look a little lost."

"I don't want to be here," she grumbled.

"No friends?" he asked.

"It's my first year here," she said.

"No problem," he grabbed her by the arm. "Come on, let's go make friends."

"Wait-!" She shrieked as he pulled her through the crowds of kids. He had no trouble navigating her through the sea of students, and he finally pulled her out to a side where a blonde girl and a raven-haired boy were talking.

"-honestly, Percy, if he really was after something like that, he'd go after it," the blonde girl was telling the guy.

The guy waved her off with his hand. "There's Leo!" He grabbed Leo's shoulder and gave him some sort of man-hug with a heavy clap on the back. "Valdez!"

"Jackson," Leo brofisted his friend. "And lovely, lovely, miss Annabeth Chase."

"Stick it, Valdez," she glared at him and he hugged her just to be annoying, putting his chin on the top of her head. As Piper had thought before, he was small, but apparently tall enough to do that. Annabeth was about her height, and maybe her age, with curly blonde hair and cold calculating grey eyes that reminded her of an old math teacher she had.

"Who's the girl?" Jackson asked.

"Leo, don't tell me you're picking up girls again," Annabeth scolded teasingly.

Leo unlatched himself from his friend. "Nope, this is Piper McLean, the girl I had the unfortanate mishap of running over this morning."

"Good way to make friends," Jackson observed.

"Can it, Jackson. Piper, meet Percy Jackson, one of the camp leaders. Percy, Piper." He pointed to both of them. "And his gorgeously intimidating and freakishly smart girlfriend, Annabeth Chase. She's also a camp leader," he jumped up and down a few times before spreading out his hands. "And I am Leo Valdez, Cabin nine extraordinaire, mechanic, and part time flirt. Also camp leader." He winked at her. "You're a newbie, you got no status yet."

"Wonderful," Piper muttered.

"Don't mind him." Annabeth assured her. "Leo can be annoying all the time, but he's a good friend. Sometimes."

"Hey," Leo frowned. "What do you mean, 'annoying all the time?' I'm only annoying _some_ of the time."

"No you're not," Percy said. "You are just annoying."

Leo laughed, a deep chuckle that soon became fits of louder laughter. "What do you-" His voice cracked on the second word.

Percy laughed even louder. "VALDEZ'S VOICE CRACKED!" He shouted over the chattering of the camp.

"ABOUT TIME!" someone else yelled.

"STICK IT!" Leo yelled over all of them.

Annabeth read her expression, which must have been very good. She smiled, a small smile that Piper saw she only gave other people, maybe her other friends. It felt good to be included for once. "Well, Piper, for what it's worth, welcome to Camp Half-Blood. I hope you are prepared for more strange things, because this is just the beginning."

"The beginning of a long summer," Piper muttered.

Leo slung a free hand around her. "Come on, Pipes, I got some hot guys you need to make friends with while I acquaint myself with the newest hotties this fine camp has to offer." He took her hand and dragged her back into the crowd.

* * *

That night, when she sat in her bunk and stared fixated at the bunk above her, she heard a strange tapping on the window next to her bunk.

She leaned over from her bunk and reached out. On the outside, Leo Valdez stood there grinning and waved.

"Valdez!" she hissed. "What are you doing here?"

He grinned in response, his teeth sparkling like diamonds in the full light of the moon. "Got you something," he said in a low whisper. "You can thank me in the morning."

He tossed her something and then vanished like smoke into air, so she caught it and stared back at the window where he was just standing.

Piper turned over the item in her hands and realized it was her iPod. Her beat up, old silver/black one with the dent on the front. It really was her music.

She smiled and closed the window, plugging the buds into her ears and closing her eyes. Maybe camp wouldn't be so bad after all.

* * *

Camp activities were fun, she decided after a week. Her schedule was orderly and structured, something she didn't usually have in her life. In the morning, daily roll call came in the cabins and everyone was awoken by the alarm bell at seven. After everyone was up and dressed/showered, the breakfast bell rang at eight. The cabin counselor would lead them down to the pavillion and sit at the table specified for each cabin. Apparently there was a hidden rule about not sitting at another cabin's table that was mysteriously broken everyday when Leo Valdez sat next to her at meals.

"People are staring," she whispered to him.

Leo shrugged, picking up his food. "Let's go sit at Percy's table then, he looks lonely."

So that was why everyday she sat with Percy, Leo, and Annabeth at the Cabin 3 table to keep their friend company. Her other cabinmates looked at her strangely (and everyone else in the dining hall), but she couldn't find the energy or time to care.

"So," Leo started their regular morning conversational game of 'how awkward can we make our conversation so other people in the room think we're high' as per usual. "Hypothetically, if I became a giant flying walrus, what would you guys do to change me back?"

Piper snorted loudly into her pancakes. Annabeth ignored them and continued to work on her laptop. Percy hummed like he was thinking. "I think we'd probably leave you like that, you'd be less annoying."

Piper lost it, laughing so hard she almost slid out of the bench, and Leo pouted with his arms crossed. "So mean," he complained.

Chiron, the middle-aged greying man who mostly remained in a wheelchair, and also the owner of the camp, wheeled his way to the podium by the front table. "Campers!" he called loudly to get their attention as he usually did in the morning. "Camp activities will start in fifteen minutes. Please find your morning class and report to your designated center."

"Time to go," Percy kissed Annabeth's forehead. "I have a class to teach about canoeing down by the lake."

"I have to go teach a critical lens class," Annabeth muttered and packed up her laptop. "Bye guys."

Leo stretched out his arms and put his feet on the top of the table. "What about you, Beauty Queen?" He'd adopted some sort of nickname for her (which she didn't appreciate), but the only reason she allowed it was (shush she found this out a few days ago but he apparently taught a mechanics class) because she called him Repair Boy. (He didn't appreciate his nickname either.)

"I have an hour before I have to go to an art class," she said. "Like I do everyday."

"Just checking to see if you're free," he grinned, winked, and got up. He held out his hand to her as an invitation. "Wanna come swing with me on the hammock?"

She sighed and got up with him. "Fine, but you better have ice cream."

"Do ice cream pops count?" he brandished two ice pops in his hands and she snatched one from him, tearing off the wrapper and sticking it in her mouth. "Race you!" she called, and ran to find the hammock.

He blinked for a second, before grinning and running after her.

* * *

Art was a fun class. Leo left to teach his engineering class around ten, so she headed for Cabin 4. The campers called it the garden cabin because of _'the huge giantass garden out in front and the kids of the cabin would kill you if you even stepped on the edge because it's like a friggin minefield'_ quoted the one and only Leo Valdez. She'd heard his comments on each of the cabins when he gave her a tour of the camp on the second day.

Leo's commentary consisted of several things. His tour kind of went like this:

Cabin one: The Zeus cabin, creepy ass cabin, empty place, don't go in there.

Cabin two: Hera's cabin, also supposed to be my aunt or some shit, I don't fucking know. It's empty, don't go in there.

Cabin three: Percy's cabin, don't walk in there unless you want to see him and Annabeth making out on his bed.

Cabin four: Demeter cabin. The one with the huge fucking plant infestation in front.

Cabin five: the Ares cabin, don't wander in unless you wish to die a slow and painful death.

Cabin six: the Athena cabin, also known as geekland and heaven of the nerds. It's hell for the rest of us illiterates.

Cabin seven: Mostly the jocks and hot guys live there, along with Rachel who's like the camp supporter or some shit, rich dad and shitloads of money. She's a big art fan I think.

Cabin eight: Artemis cabin. This place is mostly for our sister camp, and the 'hunters' visit every once in awhile and play some 'friendly' games of 'competition' and kick our asses every time.

Cabin nine: Hephaestus cabin, which is my cabin, the land of mechanics and explosions galore.

Cabin ten: Your cabin, I wouldn't even walk in there even if I was bribed with more money than fucking Bill Gates.

Cabin eleven: Hermes cabin, the house of pranksters and thieves. They're the ones who stole your iPod, by the way. You can burn it down if you want and search for Travis Stoll.

Cabin twelve: Dionysus cabin. He's like the head-leader of the camp, rich little shit who acts like a baby and hates working here. Haven't seen him here in a while.

Cabin thirteen: The Hades cabin, which I call of the cabin of death because it's the scariest fucking place in this entire camp. There's only one kid in it, his name's Nico, and he doesn't come here that often.

Piper didn't see anything really remarkable about any of the cabins. Apparently a lot of them were abandoned for safety reasons- or there just weren't enough campers to fill them. Whatever the reason, Piper felt a little unsettled after that tour.

In art class she was assigned to make her first camp t-shirt. An orange tie-dye thing with the words "CAMP HALFBLOOD" on the front in black letters and a flying horse underneath.

"What's with the horse?" she asked Katie, the counselor in charge of art.

She didn't even glance at Piper while she helped a younger kid paint a sunflower on a tiny canvas. "It's supposed to show the spirituality of the camp or something. You'll have to ask Chiron."

Chiron was paralyzed from the waist down, according to Leo (and his questionable sources) from some freak car accident when he was a kid. His parents were loaded too, and a group of twelve other people chipped in to build the camp as his wish. He still ran it and kept the camp in shape, mostly relying on the counselors and Argus (the shy janitor/head of security in the camp) to keep the camp running as long as it did.

Piper contemplated that. Chiron had supposedly created the logo himself- maybe because he liked the idea of a flying horse, or maybe it was a representation he wanted to fly away himself and leave what he had behind him. She decided it was just a cool picture and took the stamp and stamped it on her camp shirt.

One of the other girls in her class looked over. "Cool shirt!" she said.

Piper smiled and said "Thanks!" She picked up a pair of scissors and cut strips in the back of the shirt and cut the edges of the cut the top and gave the rim more a ripped feel. Satisfied, she put the scissors back down and held it out.

The girl who complimented her earlier looked horrified with her new revision of the shirt, and went quiet and back to making her own shirt.

Piper left the class and put the shirt in her suitcase to wear the day after. Then she'd make a few more in art afterwards, and she would start to feel like she was actually at summer camp.

* * *

The next day she wore the camp shirt she made the day before. Leo looked at her strangely at breakfast, staring at her and then back at his cereal.

Annabeth elbowed him to get his attention. "Staring is rude; take a picture and it might last longer."

"Sassy Annabeth is back," Leo muttered. "I'm not staring."

"Yes you are," Percy corrected him.

"Got something to say to me, Repair Boy?" Piper teased him, poking his arm across the table.

He looked a little distracted. "I- I have to go," he said, standing up and walking away.

Piper made a face, Percy looked confused, and Annabeth looked positively uninterested.

"What was that about?" Piper demanded from Annabeth as they walked back to their cabins later in the day.

"What about?" Annabeth asked, distracted.

"This morning. Leo was looking at me weird."

Annabeth glanced up. "I think Leo's just doing his Leo thing. He'll be back to normal tomorrow."

* * *

Turns out he wasn't.

* * *

Then he was.

* * *

They hung out a lot more. Piper did art and made more tshirts. Listened to her iPod every night as she fell asleep. She didn't wear the shirt she made anymore and Leo never mentioned it.

Her iPod was always with her. Sometimes Leo would listen to it with her, making jokes and taking turns pushing each other off the pier and into the lake during lunch break and after curfew.

One day she told him a secret; the secret she never usually told a soul, not even Annabeth. And her and Annabeth were great friends, talking about how annoying Leo and Percy were, and the different concepts of feminism and other things-friends-talk-about-shit.

"Leo," she told him cautiously at dinner. "Can we go down to the pier?"

He stopped eating and looked up. "What for?"

"Just to...talk." she said.

He shrugged and got up. "Fine, let's roll. See you guys later," he waved to Percy and Annabeth.

As they walked, Leo said "They're gonna go make out while we're gone."

"Probably," Piper agreed. "We should sneak into the counselor room and play Mario Kart again- I mean,_ the room I'm not supposed to know about because I'm not a counselor_."

He ruffled her hair, but he looked a little nervous for some reason. "Sure, Queenie."

At the pier she sat down and dipped her feet on the edge of the water. Leo sat next to her, making little ripples where his toes danced along the top of the lake. Finally she said: "I have something to confess."

"Me too," Leo said in relief to break the silence.

She swallowed and cautiously looked over at him. "Remember you told me that story how your mom died, and how you've been kinda...low on money because you're just a kid, like you said."

He didn't meet her eyes. It was still a sore subject, she could tell. "Yeah."

"Well, I didn't want you to hate me...but I'm kinda...how did you say Rachel was? Loaded? Well yeah, I'm kinda that. Money's never been an issue for me."

"Lucky you," Leo said wistfully. "I'm lucky I get any money for working here."

"Yeah, well..." Piper gulped. "You see, my dad's kinda...famous."

"Like famous as in some genius scientist who invented some flying car or something or Hollywood famous?"

"Hollywood." she said. "My dad is Tristan McLean."

Leo whipped around and stared at her. his mouth agape in shock. Piper looked down at the water. He was going to hate her now. She never should have brought it up, but she felt after hearing the story of his mother, he deserved some truth from her. She never should have told-

"Dude!" Leo exclaimed. "That is so cool! Why didn't you tell me that earlier?"

"I was afraid you wouldn't like me after that," she said in a whisper.

"No way! Now I can say I'm BFF's with the daughter of the coolest actor in Hollywood!" Leo sounded a little too excited about that.

Piper managed to laugh. "Thanks for not hating me."

He smirked, his eyebrow raised gently in that snarky attitude he always had. "I could never hate you, Piper."

"So what were you gonna tell me?" Piper crossed her legs and sat indian style across from him.

Leo hesitated. "Just that I wanted us to listen to your iPod until we get yelled at for staying past curfew. Got your tunes?"

She grinned. "I _always _ have them."

"C'mere then," he snatched the iPod away from her hands and started scrolling through the list. "Ugh, do you have anything other than _Fall Out Boy _or_ My Chemical Romance_?_ Panic! At the Disco_? God, Piper, you need to branch out your music taste."

"Don't diss my tunes," she scolded.

"Fine, my wayward daughter, have a listen to a song I can approve of that you'll still love," he pressed an earbud into her ear and pressed play.

"What song is this?" she asked as the intro started.

"_Smoke_," he said.

"By who?"

"No one knows. I just found it and the artist was never listed. Just listen."

A few drums pounded frantically in the headphones and a raspy voice with a rounded sort of quality started to sing;

_Slipping through the_

_Dark cracked corners of my soul_

_Where the fire burns painfully_

_I can feel the heat rising to my face_

_And the silence is a scream_

_The loudest scream I've ever heard_

_All my impact all my weight_

_The scale will never change_

_The fight is not my own and I can never win_

_Smoke breathing out my lungs as I_

_Inhale the fire of my demons_

_While the flames cover me_

_Smothering my mind_

_And all that I am and all that I was_

_Scream until I choke and nothing's gonna change_

_It's as hard as the art of catching smoke_

_Bare hands crisp as I burn at the edge_

_Hear the smoke billow higher as it reaches to the sky_

_They say I'll never go anywhere because of where I'm going_

_But the smoke of the fires from hell still reach up and touch heaven_

_Holding filthy palms and you try to reach out and hold up your hope_

_It's as impossible, improbable, as the art of catching smoke_

_I wish that I was not who I am and never was_

_I wish that this was happy ever after 'cause_

_In the dark where I sleep alone_

_I'm afraid I won't wake up_

_As the fire consumes my soul_

_(All that's left is the faded smell of smoke)_

_Take my hand and fall with me_

_The smoke is reaching our lungs_

_So you want to find me elsewhere again_

_I'll warn you only once_

_I can never be found_

_It would be easier if you tried to catch my smoke_.

* * *

Her iPod broke in the month she was there. Needless to say, she was in a terribly shitty mood for the rest of the week, her dreams all dark and twisted, her mind running with horrible thoughts and fear. She felt so lost- so vulnerable without her calming, pulsing sounds. The entire thing just fried. No use trying to fix it. And she had two months of vacation left. She tried charging it and everything- nope. It was unfixable.

"Leo," she tracked him down in the workshop near the camp activities quad. "Can you fix something?"

Leo was welding a bunch of random metals together out of boredom and watching the puddle of melted metal run off the surface. He turned off the welder and flipped off his helmet and grinned, racing stripes of grease running down his face. "'Sup, Queenie?"

"My iPod is broken," she held it out to him gently. "Do you think you can fix it?"

Leo pushed his way off the bench and took the iPod from her hands. He inspected it for a moment and attempted to turn it on, before taking out a screwdriver and prying off the back. He looked at the panel for a minute and shook his head forlornly, handing it back into her hands. "Sorry Piper, this one's fried. Nothin' I can do about that."

Piper tried not to show she was upset by that. Not just the fact that her nightmares would be coming back- but without the calming beat of her iPod, she didn't know how she'd survive the summer at all...

Leo noticed her downcast mood and pulled her into a chair, causing her to shriek in surprise. "Well, now that I've made you thoroughly upset, it's time to spill."

"Spill what?" she asked him quizzically, readjusting herself in the chair so she could look at him in attention, instead of half-hanging/half leaning off the other side..

"Why you're at camp," Leo put his feet up on the desk to relax, obviously sensing they were going to be sitting for a while. "I mean, this is a camp for damaged people. It's here to kinda push us through the hard parts."

"Push?" She made a sour face. "Wouldn't they just want to like, fix the kids they take in?"

Leo snorted. "No one has enough time for that. Even Chiron can only help so much- no, Pipes, the really damaged kids can never be fixed. I'm wondering if you're one of them- one like me."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, but okay." Piper spun the chair around and rested her chin on the back of the chair.

"Well, you'll find out." Leo answered her. "Phase one: how did you get to camp?"

"Took a plane from California," Piper remembered. "The flight attendant thought I was in the wrong class, thought I stole away up front."

"I hate planes," Leo agreed. "And boats. Also cars make me nauseous."

"Guess you walk everywhere."

He grinned and winked at her, one of those knowing grins like they were sharing some sort of secret; the kind she could never be sure if he was joking or being completely serious. "Lots of walking."

"Sucks to be you," Piper muttered without enthusiasm. "This is a fun game. What's the second phase?"

"Phase two: why were you sent to Camp Halfblood?" Leo tried to ask her in a posh sort of tone, maybe British, but with his Texan accent it made it sound even more ridiculous. Piper snorted and laughed as she tried to answer the question:

"I stole a BMW." she said without pausing. Then she continued to explain: "I went up to the dealer and asked for it. Then he just handed me the keys and said 'Sure, take it.'"

"Woah," Leo said. He blinked a couple times. "Rich dad who turns out to be Tristan McLean, and then you only get sent _here_ because you stole a fucking _BMW_. I'm surprised they didn't sue or send you to juvey."

"They said they would press charges unless I went to this summer camp and showed 'increased improvement in my attitude.' I think you guys are just corrupting me even more- yesterday Connor Stoll showed me how to hotwire a camp van and take off. He's being nice so I don't beat the shit out of him like I did to his brother."

Leo laughed. "You should always keep an eye on the Stolls, even when they're on your side."

"I'll keep that in mind," Piper promised with a chuckle.

"Well, I go to Camp Fix the Crazy Kids because..." he frowned. "Convicted arsonist, illegally broke out of a juvey twice from the same county, ran away six times..."

"Jeez, you've got quite the track record." Piper whistled appreciatively. "Almost beats mine."

"What do you mean 'almost beats', _mine _ beats yours by a million more points!"

"Does not!"

"I'm gonna tickle you!" Leo warned.

Piper kept laughing. "I am more badass than yo- _FUCK_- LEO-!"

Leo grabbed her sides and poked her in the ribs, tickling her mercilessly until she fell off her chair and tried to crawl away on the filthy floor of the workshop. Leo kept tickling her until she kicked him in the leg and pushed him away. She scrambled to get up and ran for the counselor cabin. Leo was hot on her heels, cursing and laughing.

Piper got there first. There was no time to pick the lock on the door, so she popped off the screen and clambered through the window. Leo came panting behind her, noticed her and his grin became devilish. "I'm gonna get you!"

"I'll barricade the exits!" she cried.

Piper shoved a chair on the handle of the door and braced herself on the opposite side of the couch. Leo rammed into the door once, twice, before he gave up. He swore under his breath a few times and then it was silent.

Piper peeked from under her arms. Leo was nowhere in sight. She heaved a sigh of relief.

Her blood pounded in her ears. Then she heard a creak- from the ceiling maybe- and a shower of dust came down from the collapsing roof.

Then Leo fell down from the ceiling and landed on the couch on top of her, swearing loudly, and she screamed in surprise.

Leo tickled her again, pushing off debris off the ceiling, laughing so hard he was practically crying.

"We're in so much trouble," Piper gasped between laughter.

"I know," Leo rolled over. "Wanna play Mario Kart?"

She frowned. "It's late._ After dinner_. People are gonna wonder where we went."

"Come on, you need to live on the dangerous side of life just a bit."

Piper raised an eyebrow at him as he started up the Wii system. "And what would the dangerous side be?"

He shrugged nonchalantly. "You know, the usual. Opening the wrong side of a popcorn bag. Pushing doors that say pull. Just the badass things."

Piper was unable to stop laughing for the next three hundred million years.

* * *

They played Mario Kart until Leo got tired of losing and turned off the game. Piper curled into the couch and tried to ignore the darkness of the room, the pressing feeling of heaviness weighing on her chest-

"You okay?" he asked her.

"No," she mumbled. "I need my music or else everything just..."

Leo fumbled around the room to find her iPod. The light flickered on, but the screen stayed white to show it was unusable. He held it gently in his hands and then slipped it into hers, putting his own hands over her own. The dull light of the dying iPod cast long shadows on his face, and for the first time since Piper had met him, Leo Valdez actually looked like the broken boy he claimed himself to be, so much older and damaged than he let other people know.

He hesitated and then stuck one of the earbuds into his ears and started humming a random tune. It might have been the song Smoke he showed her, but then, with his inability to sing in key, it could also have been a Christmas carol.

She was looking at him strangely, so he tapped the earbud and smiled. "I'm listening."

"To what?" she asked incredulously.

"Shh," he put a finger to her lips. "I'm listening to silence." He winked at her, the bright glow of the iPod reflecting off his smile like a radiant beam of happiness only he could show. "That's the secret to living, Pipes. You just gotta go with the rhythm, and when all's gone silent, you just listen to your own."

So they listened to the silence coming from her iPod for a while before he leaned back and patted his stomach. "Where you gonna sleep?"

Piper smirked and turned off the iPod, crawling over the tangle of Leo's limbs so she could lie down on his chest. "You're my pillow."

"That is hardly fair," Leo complained. "Get off me, you're too fat."

Piper laughed. "Love you too." She leaned her head down on his chest so she could feel his fast heartbeat beating through his camp shirt.

"Good night, Pipes." Leo yawned.

"Night, Leo."

He wrapped his arms around her and drifted off almost instantaneously. Piper stayed awake a little longer, listening to the silence of the old room, the whispers of past conversations and laughter still etched in the wood of the paneling, and the warm feeling of Leo's arms securely wrapped around her and the steady constant drumming of his heart.

* * *

She found she wasn't afraid to have nightmares anymore. She just listened for a while and thought of Leo holding her securely, defending her from dark things in her mind, and she could sleep.

* * *

After a month and a half of sleeping, showering, eating, camp activities (repeat cycle), Piper felt very much at home among the campers. She occasionally had spats with Drew and got in trouble (not that anyone really cared anymore), but Chiron's patience with Drew was also wearing thin. She'd apparently insulted one of the other cabin leaders during a meeting and Leo stood up and told her that "your own ability to be a bitch has now been upgraded to a new level of asshole dickheadedness"- which got him in a lot of trouble. Piper hugged him so tightly when he told her he had to go and clean out the Attic of the counselor cabin. She had also gotten in trouble with Drew earlier that day, so she would be cleaning it out with him.

"So," Piper huffed as she stacked more dusty boxes in the corner. "Is this where you snuck in and fell through the ceiling?"

Leo pulled back a little strip of tarp and pointed to a hole that led into white light and most likely the cabin beneath. "Yep."

Piper snorted. "Smooth."

"I've got more style than you know," Leo puffed out his chest and put his arms out like a superhero posing for a comic photo.

Piper almost dropped the box on her foot, snorting, and sending dust flying everywhere. "Help me clean, Valdez."

After a few minutes, Leo asked; "So, where are you from?"

"Hollywood."

"I meant where you were born."

Piper paused. "Oklahoma."

"Western gal, huh? Come join the Westie party, then!"

She shoved his shoulder. "Don't be weird."

"I'm Texan, y'all," Leo boasted proudly. "I show my inner Texan loud and proud."

"I know," Piper laughed. "The rest of us are afraid of your Texan side."

"Miss," Leo slammed a box down across from her on the pile she was stacking so they could look at each other. "My Texan side is _always_ showing."

She snorted. "Yeah it is, Cowboy. Now just help me clean this dump so we can go dance along the beach and sing Disney songs like nobody knows."

"Nobody knows," Leo agreed. "Mostly because my horrible singing drives them off and no one stays around to see it."

"Yeah, that'd be a shame," Piper said. "They don't know how hot and heavy it gets after they leave."

"Especially when we bring out _The Little Mermaid_ songs."

"Or when we start the _Aladdin_ songs."

They stared at each other a minute. Then Leo broke into song; "_A WHOLE NNEEWWWW WOOORRRLLLLDDD!_"

Piper couldn't help but join in, because if your ship is sinking, then god damn, she'd go down with it. She'd start the fire and go out in the smoke. "_A NEW FANTASTIC POINT OF VIEW._.."

* * *

Life continued on. Her and Leo hung out everyday, and she also spent some balanced time with Annabeth so they could rant about boys and how dumb Percy and Leo were around them.

"I swear," Annabeth muttered as Leo and Percy played ultimate frisbee in the field while Piper and Annabeth watched from the picnic blanket they set up. "Sometimes I think he's being dumb just to piss me off."

"I think Leo just wants to piss me off in general," Piper leaned back into the blanket.

"Speaking of pissed," Annabeth muttered. "Percy's gonna be leaving soon."

Piper shot back up. "What? Why?"

"An exchange program," Annabeth muttered darkly. "The other camp across the country- the one in Cali- they're sending one of their own campers to just get a feel of each of the camps. Percy was chosen to go and they're sending another for about a month to report back on whether or not they feel the camps could work together or not."

"Who are they sending?" Piper asked.

"No idea. Some really popular kid back at his own camp, and Percy's popular here, so they're sending him. I hate this plan," she groaned. "I won't be able to see my boyfriend for a whole month!"

"It could be worse," Piper cheered her up. "He could be gone for the whole summer. I bet he'll call you everyday."

Annabeth flopped down on the other side of the towel. "I guess."

"Don't worry, he'll be back before you know it." Piper watched Percy tackle Leo to the ground and then throw the frisbee and hit him in the face. Leo sputtered and wrestled Percy to the ground, leaving the other two girls to watch in amusement at the language and communication of the opposite sex.

* * *

The new guy from the other camp arrived and Percy took his leave to California. His name was Jason Grace.

Piper was interested in him for some reason. He was blonde haired, blue eyed (the cliched definition of perfect that she usually avoided) and a strange scar on his upper lip that only appeared when he frowned or smiled. It reminded her of the Mona Lisa- the strange half-smile, half-frown he always wore when wandering around the camp.

He was put in Piper's art class, the day they were making clay necklaces for the bead ceremony at the end of the summer. He walked clumsily into the table behind her, apologizing and awkwardly taking a seat next to her while their instructor, Katie, taught how to form the clay beads they would have to make for all the campers at the end of the summer.

"Hi," he greeted to her.

"Hi," she greeted back.

"I'm Jason," he held out his hand. "Jason Grace." Piper shook it. "I'm kinda new here."

"I can tell," she hid her laugh.

"Yeah," he smiled sheepishly. "So, after this class, would you mind showing me around? I don't really know where anything is-"

"It's fine," Piper said. "I'll get a tour guide- he's the best in camp."

"Oh," Jason looked downcast, maybe even disappointed. "I was kinda hoping you could show me around. What's your name?"

Was he blushing? "Piper," she smiled. "Piper McLean."

"Nice to meet you."

"Piper!" Katie snapped. "Pay attention in class please! And you too, newbie!"

"Yes, miss," Jason apologized politely while Piper huffed.

* * *

"Leo!" Piper yelled into cabin nine. "Valdez, get your ass out here!"

From the depths of the cabin came a snarky reply; "My ass prefers the shadows of the indoors, thank you very much!"

Piper pulled her head out and smiled apologetically at Jason. "One minute, he's being stubborn."

"Okay," Jason said. He was glancing around the camp- watching campers go in and out of classes, walking from the beach to the pavillion, all the activities Piper was used to. She ran inside and found Leo half asleep on his bunk, his eyes drooping and tapping his hands with little energy in that same annoying pattern he always did.

"Now!" she barked, yanking him up by the collar. Leo yelped as Piper dragged him out of the cabin and outside.

Leo shielded his eyes from the sun like it burned him. "Ow! I was taking a nap!"

"Well now you have to give a tour," Piper said sharply. "Jason, this is Leo. Leo, Jason."

"_Mucho gusto_," Leo grumbled.

Jason held out his hand, all formal and adorably awkward again. "Hi. Nice to meet you. Piper's told me a lot about you."

"Has she really?" Leo muttered darkly as he shook the hand a little firmer than usual. He was staring at Piper and the way she blushed when Jason mentioned her name.

"Okay, let's go then!" Piper said, all giggly and blushing at Jason. Leo felt searing hot pain run through his chest before he let it cool. Calm down, he told himself. Bitter resentment towards the perfect new boy Jason started to build in his chest.

* * *

"And this is your cabin," Leo pointed tiredly to Cabin one. "The empty cold cabin for Zeus. It's haunted, supposedly."

"Leo!" Piper smacked his arm. "Not helping!"

"Wasn't trying to," he shrugged.

"Thanks," Jason paused. "For the tour. It was nice meeting you, Leo."

"You too, pretty boy. Now run along, children, I have a nap I left unattended that I have to finish. Have fun in your cabin, be careful of the boobytraps. Heh. _Boobytraps_."

"Valdez I swear-" Piper warned.

"God, Piper, it's a fucking _joke_. Calm the fuck down. See you at dinner." He spun on his heel and marched back to his cabin.

Jason raised an eyebrow. "What's his problem?"

Piper shrugged. "He's just pissed I woke him up. He'll be better tomorrow."

* * *

"Oh my god," Annabeth grumbled. "I'm missing Percy and it hasn't even been a week."

"I'm sure he misses you too," Piper answered as she ate more breakfast.

Jason sat next to her and said "Hey." Piper choked and managed "Good morning."

"I'm going to sit at my table today," Leo muttered and stood up, taking his plate of food and sitting with his other cabinmates. It was all guys, laughing and shoving rotting food into each other's faces and having dares over mix-breakfasts with the most disgusting combinations she had ever seen in one glass.

Jason watched Leo leave. "I get the feeling he doesn't like me," he mused.

"Congrats!" Annabeth responded sarcastically. "I think I'm going to join Leo." She stood up and left her food at the table and sat with her table instead.

Jason coughed. "Is everyone here so...rude?"

Piper made a noncommittal noise. "According to what I've heard from Annabeth, the two camps never really got along. I think a few still hold grudges. Annabeth just doesn't like you because they sent you in exchange for her boyfriend."

"Gee, I'm glad to feel welcome."

Piper laughed. "As for Leo, well, he doesn't get play well with others. You'll just have to give him some space, he'll warm up to you eventually."

Jason glanced at Leo's back that was purposely faced away from them and shunning their table, and then back at her. "Oh...I just kinda thought, maybe he was just being protective. Like you guys were..._together_."

Piper spat out her drink and showered Percy's old table with orange juice. "Me and Leo? _Ha_! We've been friends from the beginning of summer, we're more brother and sisterly than anything. Plus, I don't think he feels that way about me."

"Oh," Jason turned a little pink. "I was gonna say that's a shame, you seem like a nice girl."

Piper flushed pink. "I have to go teach a class, I'll see you later."

* * *

Piper was helping out teach canoeing because of Percy's absence, and the other instructor was Travis Stoll. He looked frightened that she would be working with him, so he kept a wary distance. Piper couldn't help but smile.

Half way through the lesson, Connor Stoll ran up to them holding a pair of swim shorts and shirtless. He panted and held up his hand. "Piper, Chiron wants to see you. I'm here to take your spot and help my brother."

Piper tore her gaze away from watching the campers in the canoes paddle helplessly around in circles. The coxon in front (Travis), was doing little to help them, distracted and sending faint encouraging words while not paying attention. "Yeah, that's great, just keep rowing."

She made a face at Connor. "Why?"

"Didn't tell me," Connor readjusted his pants. "You should probably go find out. And uh- don't look back, I have to change into my swimmies."

Piper snorted. "Swimmies."

"That wasn't the word I was looking for," he gave her a pained expression. "Please don't ever let Leo know this? He'll blackmail me forever."

"HEY CON!" Travis called from his canoe. "GOT YOUR SWIMMIES YET?"

"I don't think I'll have to tell him," Piper laughed and started walking to the Big House and wondering what she got in trouble for this time.

* * *

Chiron was sitting on the front porch in his wheelchair. He was gazing out at the camp with a brooding expression- which meant someone was in a lot of trouble. Probably her. She tried to think back at anything she'd done bad in the last week that could have gotten her in trouble. Nothing came to mind except her frequent spats with Drew- which occasionally nasty. Drew insulted one of the younger girls in her cabin earlier in the week and Piper punched her in the face. She was done with Drew's shit and everyone else's shit, she was just done with shit. That was probably why she was getting called down, right?

Then...why did Chiron look so grim? He watched her expectantly as she walked up the steps and took a seat at the little picnic table on the deck.

"Hello Piper," Chiron said wearily. "How is your day going?"

"I was teaching canoeing," Piper replied, a curious expression still present on her face.. "Then I got called down here. What's this about? Have I done anything wrong?"

Chiron shook his head. "Not you, Piper. However-"

The door burst open and Drew Tanaka burst out, her makeup running and a pair of designer fashion bags hanging off her arms. She looked like she'd been crying, which should have made Piper rejoice, but even a pitiful Drew couldn't cheer her up.

"Hello Miss Tanaka," Chiron addressed the other girl. "I hope you have all your belongings packed away."

"Yeah, whatever," Drew sniffled. She glared at Piper like it was all her fault she was a mess. "What is _she_ doing here?"

"Why, she is here to replace you," Chiron answered. "Don't look at me like that, she's the second oldest, and she displays values which I think the cabin desperately needs. Your ride is waiting for you."

Drew huffed and Argus appeared behind her carrying a few more designer bags. They walked down the steps and Drew sent one last resentful glare back at Piper, who waited until Chiron looked away and stuck out her tongue and flashed her a finger. Drew made the surprised-owl face at her, before Argus led her down the hill and they vanished from sight. She heard the faint howl of a police siren off in the distance, and then it faded.

"What was that about?" Piper asked.

"She was taken back home due to a recently uncovered scandal in her hometown," Chiron rehearsed. "Or at least, that's what you're going to tell everyone who asks." He picked something off the desk, a keychain, and then a leather necklace with one bead on it. "I believe you've earned this."

Piper stared at him, not taking either of the two offerings. "What?"

"You are the new head counselor of Cabin 10," Chiron repeated. "The key is so you can enter the counselor cabin as you please...and this time without breaking the ceiling, please. And the necklace is to show you are one of us, Piper."

Piper took them silently, staring down at her hands. "Why me?"

"You have spirit, Piper." Chiron smiled, the old wrinkles on his face stretching when he did so. For a minute- and just a minute- she tried to imagine what the camp would be like if anything ever happened to Chiron. "I think you'd make a great addition to our camp."

"Thank you," she tucked the key in the back of her shorts and tied the little leather necklace around her neck. "So...what do I do?"

Chiron smiled a little gentler. "I think you have a few friends who are also cabin counselors. They'll help you. The first meeting is tonight, I hope you attend."

"I will," Piper promised. "Back to teaching canoeing?"

"If you wish," Chiron shrugged. "I have a feeling the Stolls are handling just fine. You can just take a stroll around camp and make sure that key is still working."

"Thank you, sir," Piper stood up and smiled, walking down the steps and back to the main part of the camp. The key twirled around her hand freely, and she felt very, very happy, to be a real part of something for the first time in a very long time.

* * *

"Leo!" Piper found him wandering lost around the camp, not really paying attention to anything.

He turned around and grinned at her. "Pipes! What are you doing? I thought you were teaching canoeing."

"Chiron wanted to talk to me, plus I'm free from my schedule today," she grinned wider.

Leo frowned and looked at her more closely until he found the one little detail as to why she was smiling. "Oh my god! You're a counselor!"

"I know!" He hugged her and spun her around a few times, both of them laughing.

"No more Drew!" Leo cried cheerfully. "God, she was a hitch."

"Don't you mean a bitch?"

Leo answered her without missing a beat. "Nah, she was just one of those annoying feelings you get right after you get fucked and can't walk right."

Piper laughed even louder. "How would you know that? You're a _guy_."

"Who says I don't do things with other guys?" Leo winked at her.

"That would explain why you and Percy could never keep your hands off each other."

"You bet, there's so much stuff that goes on that neither you or Annabeth know about."

Piper grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the counselor cabin. "I need to check this place out for real now that I have my own key," she said.

"Yeah," Leo said.

Along the way they bumped into Annabeth, who clapped half heartedly and said "Congrats, now don't be a Drew or a Leo." to which Leo responded indignantly "_Hey_!"

Jason also ran into them- making Piper a giggly blushing mess and a stormy Leo. The cabin seemed to be waiting for them when they arrived, and Piper clicked in the key. The door swung open as if expecting her.

Piper smiled and walked inside. "You know, I'm starting to really feel like I belong at this camp."

* * *

She took a deep breath and opened the door to the counselor cabin. Usually the meetings were right before dinner, so counselors could go back to their cabins and get their cabinmates. It would be her first meeting, so she had no idea what to expect.

Annabeth greeted her at the door first. "Hey Pipes! Come on in."

A few people looked surprised to see her. Clarisse la Rue, leader of Cabin 5, made a sour face and asked "What is _she _ doing here?"

"She's the new Cabin 10 counselor," Chiron told Clarisse.

Clarisse huffed and sent one last resentful look at Piper. "Silena was better than any of those."

"Shush," Chris, the leader of the Hermes cabin, shushed her. "Don't be rude, Risse."

Leo patted the seat next to him and Piper leapt over the side of the couch to join him. There was a ping pong table set up next to the television where they usually played Mario Kart.

Chiron cleared his throat and tried to get everyone's attention. Some counselors kept sleeping; Travis Stoll, namely.

"Campers!" Chiron barked. Everyone snapped up in attention and Travis gave a cry of fright and slid off the chair he was sitting on. Everyone laughed and he peeked his head back up, blushing red.

"Well, we have a few announcements for tonight's meeting," Chiron relaxed in his chair at the silent room of counselors. Argus waited in the corner, shy as usual, and winked at Piper. "First off: I hope you all give a warm welcome to our new head counselor to Cabin 10, Piper McLean."

Leo clapped the hardest and Annabeth joined in, but there was few who cared. After the quiet applause went silent again, Chiron cleared his throat. "Next week we will be playing a game of -"

"What happened to Drew?" Travis Stoll interrupted.

"She had other matters to attend to back at her home," Chiron flicked his eyes around the room. "Now as I was saying, Capture the flag next-"

One last counselor made it to the meeting- Jason Grace, flustered and panting. "Sorry," he panted. "No one told me there was a meeting."

"Ah yes, Jason," Chiron tried for a smile and indicated to the empty spot next to Piper. Then he turned to Leo and scolded; "Leo, you were supposed to inform Mr. Grace we had a camp meeting tonight."

"Must have slipped my mind," Leo said casually. A few other counselors laughed.

Chiron didn't find it amusing. "Maybe next time you should write yourself a reminder."

"Yeah right," Leo whispered to her.

"Anyways," Chiron said. "Capture the flag next week, I hope all cabins will participate..."

* * *

Life continued on. She hung out with Leo and Annabeth. Flirted and skirted around Jason.

* * *

She kissed him first. It was an honest accident (or something she called fate), and he was so surprised he almost fell off the pier they were sitting on. She hoped she wasn't blushing that much, but maybe she was. He was definitely blushing.

"I-" he stammered, but then he just leaned in and kissed her again. She felt like her heart had ruptured and exploded in the sky like a brilliant firework, her arms tingling and a pull in her chest she had never felt before.

Jason let her lean her head against his chest as they stared out at the lake.

* * *

Soon it wasn't _Leo&Piper&Jason _as friends but now _Piper&Jason - &Leo_, but he was the extended part of the relationship, the part that wasn't really necessary anymore.

* * *

Leo continued to ignore her at breakfast.

* * *

She was always smiling and giggling around Jason, feeling like if she jumped she could take off into the sky.

* * *

Leo felt rising tightness in his chest like he could never catch a breath. But he never said anything to Piper or Jason- because she was smiling and looking happy, and he loved and respected her enough not to ruin that. If she was happy with him, then he'd let her be happy.

* * *

Leo didn't talk to her as much.

* * *

Annabeth avoided certain conversations.

* * *

Jason showed her Cabin One in the third week he was there. She'd only have one more week with him, so she tried to shove that thought out of her mind just for when she'd have to deal with it.

He paused when they entered his cabin. "It's not much, and it's kinda cold..."

The door swung open and Piper gasped. Jason rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, as if guilty. "It's kind of a mess, I wasn't expecting company."

Piper beamed brighter. "It's so...wow."

The cabin was clean and elegant (is this what Jason called a mess? A few particles of dust shining into the light from the windows?), with only two bunks shoved in the corner of the room, one used with the covers only slightly ruffled.

Piper walked around the cabin. There was a giant statue in the middle of the room- an angry looking hippie with a long beard and a grumbling expression. She didn't know who it was supposed to be, but she didn't ask incase she offended someone. Jason was easy to confuse, she found out, because all her obvious times of flirting before had left him flustered and baffled.

Now that they were 'dating' he was even more confused; she was constantly taking too much of his expressions and reading into them, how he looked when another girl happened to pass by, things like that. Piper felt happy, but also sad at the same time, because she seemed invested in their relationship more than Jason was even trying. Was she trying too hard?

Piper pursed her lips and walked around the cabin. "Something wrong?" Jason asked, going into one of his drawers to look for a clean shirt having come from the arena.

"No," she lied honestly. "You're cabin is so nice," she sat down on the bed silently and patted the comforter.

Jason bit his lip right over the scar, as if he was unsure of what to say. "Do you wanna use that bed?" He blushed a little, and Piper did her best not to laugh. Jason tried to be funny, and smooth, and even seductive, and for those little adorable moments she felt fuzzy and warm in her chest.

"Let's see if we can," Piper stretched out and laughed.

* * *

One more week left.

* * *

Time slipped by- so fast.

* * *

Leo let her break his heart.

Little by little.

So near the end,

there was almost nothing left.

(And the sad part is, he's happy she broke his heart.)

* * *

Piper let him break her heart the last day of his exchange in Camp Halfblood, heading back to his Camp Jupiter buddies (and even an old ex-girlfriend or someone similar.)

* * *

(And the sad- _ironic_- part, is that she really, _really_, can't say she was sad. It hurt, but not painfully so that she would never fall in love again.)

* * *

He left a comma on her love,

so someone else could pick up from where he left off.

And finish the sentence,

and this time finish it forever.

* * *

Jason kissed her forehead before he left. He told her he was sorry and dishonest- and he didn't know how to handle a long distance relationship across the entire United States without making her worry.

"I don't want you to think I'm ever doing anything without you," he told her sincerely. "Or that I'm doing anything behind your back. I would never- I could _never _ do that to you. To _us_."

"What if I did it instead?" Piper cracked a lame joke in an attempt not to hear her heart break and split in two. She didn't hear it snap. (Or because it never did.)

Jason managed a smile. "You're better than that. I know you wouldn't, I trust you. I just...it's going to sound really lame, but really, it's not you, it's me. Wow, that came out even worse than I wanted." Piper laughed. "What I'm trying to say is...you deserve better than the cross-country boyfriend you'll only see every six months. I don't want to do that to you."

"I understand," she said.

"Good," he shook her hand and placed a piece of paper in her hands. "This is my line back at home. I hope we can still talk...you know, as friends."

"Maybe," Piper said doubtfully.

Jason kissed her cheek, but this time he didn't blush. "Goodbye, Miss McLean. Perhaps our paths shall cross once more someday."

"Perhaps," Piper chuckled. "Now go back to your camp, Grace. I think you have someone waiting there for you."

"There's a great possibility."

"Go get 'er, then. Be happy."

"You too, Pipes," Jason saluted her to be funny and got in the camp car taxi that drove off the edge of camp. The tires tossed up dust behind the car and vanished under the curve of the road in the distance.

Piper took a deep breath and counted to ten before she let it out. Then she picked herself up, the tiny piece of her heart that broke, and went back into the camp borders.

Jason was sincere, which made her feel worse. He was being completely whole-hearted and trying to make her feel better in the long road. She looked back up the hill and started walking up, each step feeling heavy like lead weights tied to her shoes as she trekked up the road of life.

* * *

She didn't feel broken. Or at least, not as broken as she thought she would feel. In the morning she got up at normal time and went to breakfast as usual, sitting at the Poseidon table and was only reminded when Jason didn't make his usual appearance.

Leo sat next to her. "So, pretty boy give you his Cali address so you two can bang over the school year?" His joke sounded bitter.

Piper slapped his arm. "No." She sighed and slumped in her seat. "We kinda...broke up, I guess. He didn't want either of us to get hurt in the complications of a really long-distance relationship." She sucked in a breath. "It's _whatever_."

"Aw," Leo pinched her cheeks. "Let's get ice cream and play some violent video games where we name the people after him and watch them explode."

Piper shook her head and managed to laugh. "That's not nice, Leo. He wasn't trying to be the bad guy."

"Hey," Annabeth slid in next to her. "What are you guys talking about?"

"Me and Jason split," Piper said tiredly.

"Aww," Annabeth hugged her around the shoulders. "Want some ice cream?"

"Dear Jesus, why do people keep offering me ice cream?" she exclaimed.

"Because it's good!" Percy jumped in the other side of the table. "Hi, I just got back from California. What's up, guys?"

Annabeth shrieked and jumped, throwing herself at him across the table and sending both sprawling onto the ground. She grabbed his face and kissed him, while Leo and Piper looked at each other like '_what the fuck_' and started laughing their asses off.

Some of the girls from other tables _awed _ at the adorable couple in front, but most of the drama scene went unnoticed.

Annabeth and Percy sat back down to eat with them a little while later, and Leo shared a look with Piper and blurted out; "So can you guys keep it down in Cabin three tonight? We can hear you guys banging from halfway across the Sound."

Piper slapped his arm. "Leo! Oh my god! No one can hear them from Long Island Sound, imagine all the scarred fishermen!"

Annabeth kicked her from under the table and Percy did the same to Leo. Leo fell out of his seat and curled into a fetal position on the ground. "Ow! Fuck, dude, I'm not gonna be able to have kids after that!"

"That's what you get," Percy retorted, laughing. "Tell your mind to get out of the gutter and I'll stop hurting you when necessary."

"Not necessary!" Leo grabbed the edge of his seat to pull himself up. "Come on Pipes, I wanna play some Mario Kart."

"I'm gonna kick your ass," Piper warned.

"Well," Leo brushed himself off and extended his hand. "It would have been an honor having my ass kicked by you, Piper McLean."

"Come on, you idiot," she shoved him playfully and they made their way to the Big House, and then the counselor cabin.

On the way Leo stopped. "You still upset about Jason?"

Piper hesitated. "Just a little."

"C'mere," Leo wrapped his arms around her. She didn't pause to hug him back, the smell of motor oil and cheap cologne still clinging to his (stolen) Army jacket and the air around him. She nestled her chin on his shoulder and he rubbed her back before letting go. "Too much touchy feely, let's go kill stuff. I'm actually feeling more Zombie Apocalypse style tonight than Mario Kart."

"Fine by me," he opened the door for her and they walked inside.

* * *

That night she fell asleep on the couch again, sitting on his chest, snoring slightly. Leo played with the braids in her hair and smiled to himself- not because he felt jealous anymore, and maybe it did feel good that Jason was out of the picture, but more importantly, he was happy that she was happy.

He pressed his chin against her forehead, and Piper stirred a little to lean up and kiss him on the forehead. "Get to sleep, Repair Boy," she said still half asleep and then closed her eyes and started snoozing again.

It wasn't even a kiss on the lips. Heck, not even close to his mouth. But Leo felt like he was floating, like he had suddenly gotten an overdose on a drug, and that was when he realized how screwed he was.

He was in _love _ with her.

He glanced back down at Piper, and the pain in his chest came back. Except this time even sharper and more intense.

_Well, shit._


	2. flames

_**title**_: the art of catching smoke [flames - 2/3]

_**summary**_: Because that's what Leo Valdez was: smoke. Smoke that always slipped through her fingers and dissipated when she tried to breathe.

_**pairing**_: leo/piper [side pairings of percy/annabeth, mentioned piper/jason]

**_rating_**: T [definitely strong language and implied ~_smut_~]

_**disclaimer**_: rick riordan owns pjo and I, do not

_**a/n**_- let's throw a party part two is here! this part explains more from leo's side of the story and into why he is attending the camp/more of the dark backstory and triggers i was talking about. so here's part two of three, hopefully part three will be up by the weekend.

reviews appreciated~

* * *

_**the art of catching smoke**_

* * *

_flames_

* * *

"Happy fun camp days," Piper rolled her eyes during the meeting. "There's only three weeks of camp left. And my dad said I've showed progress, I might not have to come back." They were talking in whispers.

"What?" Leo's voice came out louder than he meant. He also banged his fist against the table in surprise.

Everyone looked at them. Piper ignored most of the looks, but Leo looked down at his hands. "One sec," he muttered and stood up. Percy watched him leave and Annabeth tapped his shoulder. "Go talk to him."

Percy glanced around the room and back at Piper. He mouthed 'what happened?' and Piper shrugged in a vague response. The sound of a crash resounded outside, so Percy stood up and walked outside.

* * *

"Leo."

He didn't turn around. Then he angrily kicked another trash can and whirled around like a mad tornado. "What do you want?" His hands shook. He had ran a little while away from the counselor cabin, near the front where pickup and dropoff usually happened. It was also where they left the trash to be picked up at the end of the month.

"Leo-" Percy started, walking over to him and stopped. Leo glared at the ground and chewed on the bottom of his lip. Then the feeling hit him in the chest again- and it took over this time, crushing him.

His legs gave way and he fell to his knees, shaking. Percy stopped his question and rushed over. "Oh my god, Valdez, are you okay?"

"J-just dandy," Leo tried for a weak smile, gripping his head and his chest. "C-could you run to my cabin a-and get my inhaler?"

"Valdez-" Percy said in a tone that meant shit was serious and that he was going to demand for answers.

"If you don't get my inhaler I'm going to pass out from lack of oxygen, you need to run," Leo said in a slight edge to his voice. "There's only a slight chance I'll go into cardiac arrest because of this."

Percy kicked up off the dirt and ran. He didn't look back.

* * *

Annabeth stared at the window while Chiron talked. Piper tapped her shoulder. "What's wrong?"

Annabeth didn't look at her, her eyes still narrowed and sharp towards the door where Leo and Percy had vanished.

"I wonder," Annabeth said in a low, pondering voice. "I-"

She gazed out at the window for a few more moments before her eyes snapped up and she turned pale.

"Chiron," Annabeth interrupted the old teacher mid sentence. "I think I need to check on Leo."

Chiron frowned. "Alright." Annabeth dashed out, and Piper stood up out of her chair.

"Miss McLean," Chiron said in a tense voice. "I advise you stay for the meeting so you may inform the others what they may have missed while going out."

She had a staring contest with him for about a minute before she looked away and he nodded, so she sat back down and stared at the door for the remainder of the meeting. Something stirred in the back of her mind, wondering and worrying what was going on outside.

* * *

"Leo!" Annabeth screamed. Her yell echoed in the sounds of the camp, campers screaming and laughing in the distance and the splash of canoes and people swimming on the lake. "Valdez, where are you?"

"Over here," she heard weakly. She ran until her legs were burning and found him leaning on the ground with one hand and trying to crawl towards his cabin. He looked pale and desperate, which only confirmed what she was thinking.

Annabeth grabbed his hand, pulling him next to one of the nearby cabins, and leaning him up against the wall. Leo shook violently like he was going into shock (and maybe he was.)

"What happened?" she asked tersely.

"T-too much," Leo managed. He choked a little. "Going t-to pass out, god, where's Percy?"

"He's probably being a Seaweed Brain and can't find your inhaler." Annabeth squeezed his hand for encouragement. His knuckles were white as he gripped her hand.

"Can't-" Leo tried to suck in a breath, and slowly his breathing sped up. He gasped for air.

"Looks like we'll have to handle this on our own," Annabeth cursed. "Shit, I should have known during the meeting. Look at me, Valdez." She grabbed his chin so they were face to face. "You need to calm down."

"Too late for that-" Leo panted. His eyes looked glazed over and full of fear and terror, seeing things she couldn't see in his mind.

"Listen here, boy," she pinned his shoulders to the wall. "You're going to listen to me, and you are _not_ going to look away and you are _not_ going to have an attack, do you understand?"

Leo nodded weakly, but he gasped for air again. Annabeth positioned his back straight up against the wall and held each of his hands against his chest. "Okay, you're going to listen up. First, you need to close your eyes."

He did so. "Now you need to just breathe slowly, got it? In and out, in and out, got it? Just like that." Leo did as he was told, but his heart was still racing. "Okay, stop, you're going to hold in a breath now. Take a deep breathe- good, now count to ten. Don't let- _don't let it out_- I swear, Valdez, we're going to get through this, okay?"

Leo let it out and then his eyes went wild. He clawed at her hands but she kept them pinned against his chest. "Valdez!" she yelled. "Listen to me, you're fine, I swear! We're at camp, we're safe-"

"Annabeth!" Percy yelled from somewhere nearby.

"Here!" She gave a sob of relief. "Help me, he- he's-"

Percy hopped out from behind the corner and tackled Leo. He put him on the ground and fumbled with the bottle. Annabeth grabbed it from his hands and shoved it in Leo's mouth and over his nose, flipping the valve and letting the medication set in.

He took a few heavy breaths that slowly sank into nothing and then he stopped. Annabeth took off the mask and wiped the hair from her face. Percy patted Leo's shoulder. "It's okay, buddy, everyone has to let it out sometime."

Leo didn't hear them. "He's asleep," Annabeth whispered. "Come on, I'll get a stretcher and we'll take him back to his cabin."

Percy nodded grimly and slowly adjusted Leo's head so he was more comfortable. Annabeth arrived with the long stretcher shortly after and they towed his body back to his cabin. When they set him in the bunk at Cabin Nine, snoring and quiet, they snuck back with the stretcher and back to the dismissed meeting.

They arrived shortly after everyone else piled out. Piper was sitting with Chiron, talking quietly, and then into silence when the two filed in.

"Ah," Chiron said. "I hope our young friend is feeling better now, yes?"

"He's resting," Percy said.

"Who's resting?" Piper asked, her lips curled like she was annoyed.

"Nothing to worry about," Annabeth assured her. At Piper's look she added "Really, it's nothing. You should get back to your cabin, me and Percy have to go check on something."

"Huh?" Percy asked stupidly. She elbowed him. "Wha- _oh_. _Right_. Check on something."

Piper kept giving them back-glances as she walked off, shutting the door behind her. Percy let out a deep sigh and Annabeth sank into her chair.

"I don't understand," Percy ran his hands through his hair. "He hasn't had an attack like that in _years_."

"He's been under a lot of stress," Chiron said gently. "It can't suit well in his mind or heart. Now if only we know what triggered it..."

"He was talking to Piper right before," Annabeth said. "What did he say to you, Perce? And speaking of which, why'd you take so long to find his inhaler? He could have strangled himself."

"Leo buried it under his bed," Percy hissed. "You think that's my fault? He's ashamed of it, Annabeth, which is part of the reason he doesn't carry it around. He's scared people will think he's weak if they look at him differently."

"He's not," Chiron murmured. "He should know that by now."

"Obviously Leo missed the memo," Percy sighed. "I'm gonna go check on him. Annabeth, you distract Piper."

"Why?" she wrinkled her nose like something foul just entered the room.

"Leo doesn't want her to know," Percy said shortly for explanation. "He already told you. Let's just let him...ease into it."

"Ease into it? He's had _eight _ years to do that!" Annabeth laughed, but it wasn't to be mean, just a bitter laugh. "If he hasn't gotten used to it already, he never will!"

"Annabeth," Chiron said in a warning tone. "Go and find Piper. Percy, check on your friend. I need to rest."

"Yes sir," they said together and walked out quietly.

* * *

Leo was sitting up when he came in. "How are you feeling?" Percy asked him, ducking under a low hanging light to make his way over.

"Better," Leo choked out. "I just c-can't understand why I would-?"

"Don't beat yourself up," Percy dropped him a foam tray of some scraps from dinner. "We all gotta lose it every once in awhile, otherwise it all gets bottled up inside and someday we just explode."

"You think if I exploded, it'd be quick?" Leo asked humorlessly.

Percy whacked the back of his head. "Don't talk like that, or I'll hit you again."

Leo managed a small smile. "Ow, please don't."

Percy handed him the tray. "Now eat something, or Annabeth will be on my ass for starving you. I'm gonna get your medication."

"But-" Leo protested.

"Yes, I am aware you haven't taken it in five years, and _yes_, I am aware you don't think they help, but they do." Percy cut him off. He unzipped Leo's luggage and started rummaging through it. "Now eat your pizza and _shut_ _up_."

Leo took a bite of his food and swallowed painfully. Percy retrieved the old bottle and handed it to him, unscrewing the cap, and dropping out a pill. "Here you go, antsy boy."

"You're an asshole, did I ever mention that?"

"Nah, you love me." Percy grinned cheekily.

"You're also a dick."

"So are you, at certain points."

"Jerk."

"Assbutt."

"That insult is redundant."

"Your _face_ is redundant."

"Fuckshit."

"Ew, that'd be uncomfortable."

"Bastard."

"That would be me," Percy bowed on cue. "I gotta go help some kids not drown in the lake, Annabeth will check on you later. Take your pill and eat your food, or she'll kill 'ya. Got it?"

"Yep."

"Good. See you later." Percy ducked out of the cabin and left Leo alone in the dimly lit room.

Leo sighed, which became another cough. He fumbled for the inhaler again, taking a few deep breaths, and then taking it out. He sipped his soda and took his pill like a good boy, before the medication kicked in like it used to and he fell asleep.

* * *

"I'm worried about him," Annabeth whispered in a low voice as they passed Leo's cabin and headed for bed in their cabins. Her cabin was already set to go and changing into pajamas, while Percy was leading Cabin Nine to sleep.

"Now," Percy said a little louder. "You all have to be quiet, Valdez is sleeping. If you wake him up he'll eat your head off."

One of the younger boys squeaked in fear. Annabeth giggled. "Stop that, you old Seaweed Brain."

"In you go," Percy opened the door and ushered them inside. When the last little camper scampered in he shut the door quietly. "Now, what were you talking about?"

"Leo." Annabeth sighed, her shoulders slumping and sagging a little. "I'm worried he's gonna start up the attacks again."

"Aw, Annie, he _can't_."

"If he does, he's going to have a heart failure." she warned. "You and I both need to keep an eye on him. We almost lost him once before, and I don't want that to happen again."

"He's like the little brother I never wanted," Percy agreed. "And no, it can't happen again. It _won't_ happen again. We'll make sure he's okay, promise."

Annabeth nodded and yawned tiredly. "Okay," Percy said, kissing her forehead, and then her nose, and lastly her nose. He could feel her smile. "Time for bed, Wonder Woman. You've saved enough people for today, even a superhero needs to rest."

"See you tomorrow," Annabeth smiled and pushed him towards his cabin. "You make sure you get some sleep."

* * *

He was being crushed, and the flames reached over his head, setting fire to the walls, and he heard his mother's scream of terror, as the heat washed over his face. Bathing him, burning him, killing him-

"_Leo_!" someone shouted, shaking his shoulder. He felt a cold plastic tube go into his mouth and the mask pressed against his cheeks. "Leo, wake up!"

He must have started screaming at some point. Which meant Harley probably ran to find Percy and Annabeth, he was always worried for him...

Leo's eyes flew open. He could still feel the heat of the fire in his chest. It wouldn't go away.

Percy was gripping his shoulders and pushing on his chest. He vaguely felt the pressure on his ribs, but he didn't understand what was happening.

"Oh my god! He's back, he's alive, Percy, _stop_!" He heard Annabeth crying somewhere to the side.

Leo slumped back down into his pillow. Great, it had happened again.

Percy helped him sit up, leaning him against his shoulder for support. Annabeth crawled next to him and stroked his hair, still sniffling. "We thought we lost you for good, Chiron called the paramedics."

"What?" he asked in a croaky voice.

"Harley woke us up, he said you were having a really bad attack," Percy said. "I got here as fast as I could, and you weren't breathing. I tried to do CPR, but you woke up."

"Thanks," Leo smiled weakly. "Glad you two are always here."

"Hey! Let me through!" Someone outside was pushing their way through the younger Cabin Nine members. "Get 'outta my way!"

Piper burst into the cabin, still in her pink Powerpuff Girl pajamas and her hair looking more like a home for a pair of birds. She looked pissed, which was understandable because they refused to tell her anything. She gave a cry of fright when she saw Leo and jumped onto the bed with him to hug him.

"Why isn't anyone telling me what's going on?" she demanded, running her hands through Leo's hair and practically squeezing the air of out of him.

"Hey there," Leo said weakly. "You're crushing me, ow."

"Piper," Annabeth advised, gently. "You're going to kill him, be gentle."

"What happened?" Piper demanded, still holding Leo, who eventually slid down into her lap. Annabeth glanced at Percy and Leo, who gave each other looks like '_should we tell her?_'

Leo shook his head. _Not yet_.

"Time to sleep," Percy slid off the bunk. He patted Leo's bed and gave Piper a look to tell her to get off. "Let him rest guys."

"Fine." Piper grumbled. She cast one last look at the three of them and left their cabin.

Percy looked at Annabeth and Leo again. Leo looked at his hands.

* * *

"So, we're sneaking out of camp?" Leo asked Annabeth suspiciously. "No passes, not letting Chiron know, just _going_."

"To the movies," Percy agreed.

Piper shrugged and looked around to make sure none of the other counselors spotted them. "Sounds fun to me. How are we gonna steal one of the camp vans?"

"Leo can hotwire it," Percy hopped up. "Come on, Katie just went into her cabin, we gotta dash."

The group appeared behind the pavillion wall and raced for the outside of camp. The garages were behind the Big House, so they ducked under the windows and crept to the garage.

"Got the key?" Leo asked them.

"One sec," Piper bit her lip and pulled out a bobby pin. She twisted the end and stuck it in the keyhole and twisted it around. She concentrated for about a minute and then a faint 'click' and the snap of her bobby pin made her spin the handle and push open the door. "All good. Let's go."

Inside, the garage was dusty. None of the camp vans had been used since the beginning of summer, and were only in use when campers had to be driven to a nearby bus station or to another nearby place where they lived or would be staying.

Leo opened up the doors to one of the vans. "The doors are always unlocked," he sighed. "You think Chiron wouldn't trust us by now."

"Just get it to go," Percy grinned, ruffling his hair. "We need to catch the movie before it starts."

"What movie?" Piper asked.

"It's a surprise," Annabeth's eyes sparkled with excitement. "You guys will like it."

"Not Harry Potter again," Leo groaned.

"That one comes out soon, but no, something else."

"Ugh," Leo sat up. "It's all set."

He squeezed something and the car came to life. Percy put up a hand to block the headlights from his eyes. "Alright, let's get it out the back."

They opened the back garage door and Percy steered the car while the others walked alongside it and made sure there was no trace left in the garage. Leo closed the doors behind him.

"Over there," Annabeth hissed, pointing to a dark worn path leading through a patch of woods. Percy drove into the path while the others followed.

The road appeared before them in no time, Piper was surprised. Leo swung open one of the doors and sat in the back, while Annabeth took shotgun and Piper sat next to Leo. She slammed the door shut behind her, and Percy steered onto the road, grinned at them and said "Let's go have some fun."

He hit the gas and soon the camp was nothing but dust behind them.

* * *

"That was so cool," Leo kept saying as they walked out of the movie theatre. "Like, the ending was just like; _TROLL! In your face, motherfuckers_!"

A group (gaggle- like penguins?) of about six girls sat huddled, talking and laughing a few feet away from them. One of them said something, while another laughed, and one of them caught Piper's eye. Her eyes blew up like saucers and she whispered to her other friend. The other looked up and gave a look at her, then after a few more laughs they wandered into the girl's bathroom.

Piper narrowed her eyes. Leo caught her looking, and elbowed her playfully. "Whatch'a got that pout on, Beauty Queen? We still gotta go through this mall and talk about cute boys," for emphasis he squished his cheeks together and pretended to swoon at some boys passing by. Annabeth snorted.

"I'm gonna get my free refill of popcorn," Percy announced and headed for the snack counter for more food.

"I gotta hit the bathroom," Annabeth said. She turned around and walked into the restroom.

Leo awkwardly shoved his hands in his pockets. "What did you think of the movie?"

She shrugged. "It was okay, I guess."

"You're just saying that 'cuz your dad ain't in it."

Piper snorted and smiled. "Yeah, that's it."

He nudged her arm. "Why are you so sad?"

"I don't know, I just feel like I'm third wheeling on you guys." She apologized.

Leo laughed. "I wasn't even going to be invited if it wasn't for you. Annabeth and Percy like to go out on their own sometimes, and I've gone a few times, but it was more fun having you here." The tips of his ears turned pink.

"Aw, that's sweet," Piper teased, pinching his cheeks. "Now stop, I'll throw up."

He laughed again. "That wouldn't be the most appropriate thing to happen in a cinema."

"Yeah, that's like shouting fire in a theatre," Piper said.

Leo's face darkened for a minute, just for a fraction, and vanished so fast she barely saw it. She must have imagined it.

"Well, in that case, we wouldn't want that," he agreed.

Piper laughed a little. "Stop being a dork, agreeing with everything I say."

"Pipes, I would agree with you even if I knew you were dead wrong."

Her smile wavered. "Really?"

Leo nodded. "Really."

"You would?"

"I would."

Then he tickled her. So she laughed, and tickled back. She poked him in the ribs, trying to get a laugh, and he laughed, but then it faded and choked suddenly.

Piper was still laughing, and realized Leo had gone silent. Then a caution, worried; "...Leo?"

Percy was walking over, just in time to see, and his popcorn dropped to the ground, the buttery kernels scattering all over the carpeted theater floor.

Leo felt the thud of his heart stop. And sink into the floor like a heavy weight. He sank to his knees.

* * *

The fire. On the walls. The heat breached through his nose, and the flames touched his side. He screamed in terror and pain, he never knew which one was more, but the fire raged on.

His mother screamed alongside him. Then it gurgled and choked, smoke still pouring out the room, burning his lungs as well. Even the air he breathes is killing him.

The dust cleared a little. The smoke formed a silhouette, one he didn't recognize from the memory. She was smiling, gesturing her hand to him, offering him help.

Her eyes sparkled. Piper. He wanted to say her name, ask her why he was hurting- oh so much. He couldn't find the air to say anything, when he wanted air, only smoke inhaled and exhaled.

His lungs burned, like someone had dipped them in gasoline and set them on fire. The vision of Piper cracked and fell, then vanished as the smoke billowed over his eyes and the fire collapsed into his mind and went dark.

* * *

"Get me his inhaler, now!"

"Leo!" Piper sobbed. "What's going on?"

Annabeth held her back by the arm. "Piper, listen to me!"

Piper tugged free. "Leo!" she cried, a broken sound. Leo lay on the floor, unmoving, his hands in fists and shaking.

Crowds of people created a wall, making it hard for even _her _ to breathe. Annabeth let her go and stood up to yell; "Hey, get away, he needs some space!"

"Leo," Piper whispered, cupping Leo's head in her hands. "Leo, you gotta listen to me. I don't know what's wrong with you, and I don't know what's going on, but you gotta breathe, sweetie, you just gotta breathe."

She wished she could simply convince him by her words alone. If only she had that power.

Percy burst through the cloud with a tiny air tank in his hands. He scrambled to get next to Leo, shoving a mask over his face and yelling at him to wake up. Piper found Leo's hand for comfort and squeezed it, her own body trembling with terror.

"He's not breathing!" Percy yelled at Annabeth. Annabeth was already on the phone, talking a million miles a minute, either to Chiron or an emergency line.

Percy dropped the tank and got on top of Leo, making a fist in his hands and slamming it down on Leo's chest. He jolted a little, but didn't move.

"God dammit, Valdez," Percy breathed out heavily, slamming another hand down. "I'm gonna kill you."

"An ambulance is gonna be here in two minutes, tell him to hang on," Annabeth put a hand over her ear to listen to the rest of the phone conversation.

"Leo," Piper said louder and more determined. "Leo, stay with me."

Percy got off Leo and put the tank back on his mouth. "He's breathing! Leo, hang in there, bud."

"Leo," Piper repeated, more insistent. "Leo, don't leave me. Wake up."

* * *

Something echoed in the base of Leo's skull.

"_Leo, don't leave me. Wake up_."

* * *

Leo gasped and arched forward, sending a few people backwards in surprise.

He opened his eyes.

* * *

"Really, I'm okay-" Leo insisted. The paramedics had him strapped to the top of a stretcher as they wheeled him out of the mall and into the ambulance outside. He had a gas mask over his face, as he repeatedly tried to convince the paramedics he was fine.

"No, you're going to the hospital," Annabeth corrected him. "Piper, come with me. Percy, take the van back to camp. We'll taxi back tonight, try and talk to Chiron."

"Call me when you get to the hospital," Percy ordered her.

"I will," Annabeth promised. "Come on, McLean."

* * *

He was propped up on the bed when they came in. Percy had flowers in his hands, grinning a little cockily like he had a great joke to make.

"Those aren't for me, are they?" Leo remarked dryly when Percy flourished them in front of his face.

"Yep," Percy plopped down his brandished flowers into a vase by his bedside. Then he took a seat and looked around the room.

Annabeth stood behind his chair, glaring at the windows. "What did the doctors say?"

Leo shrugged. "Nothing much. Same old useless scientific crap- oh wait, and the fact that if I don't get a better heart in the next year, I'm going to die."

She pursed her lips into the straightest line he had ever seen. Percy bowed his head and slumped.

"Valdez?" Someone called from behind the curtain.

Leo winced a little. "Come in."

Piper peeped behind the hospital curtain. "Got your pants?"

"Nope, but these hospitals are definitely runway ready." Leo flinched when he adjusted his arm and the IV needle poked something inside him. "Ow."

She scooted in the room a little more. "You feeling better?"

"Fit as a fiddle," Leo patted his chest. "Now they just need to unplug me and I'll be back to camp in no time."

Annabeth tapped Percy's shoulder and he stood up. "I need to talk to the doctor."

"Annabeth-" Leo whined.

"Percy and me signed as your legal guardians, Valdez, and that's my job," Annabeth said in a steely cold voice. "Besides, I think you and Piper need to...talk."

Piper sat down in Percy's empty chair and the two vanished behind the curtain.

She played with her hands for a few minutes. Then she asked, a quiet, yet utterly angry (and to him, even more terrifying) voice: "Why didn't you tell me?"

Leo clenched his fists as he felt a hot iron rod poking around in his chest. "Didn't want you to worry about me."

Piper looked up at him and glared, before he realized there were pricks of tears in her eyes. "That's bullshit, and I know it is."

He looked at the wall, and then back at the heart monitor. "You ever hear of someone born with a bad heart, Pipes?" His voice was strained, even a little forced.

"Yeah, but they fix it."

"Not all the time," Leo sighed. "Sometimes you can't fix a bad heart."

"Sure you can," Piper urged. "Everything is possible."

He looked at her desperately- like he was dying to believe her. (And maybe, he actually was dying.) "It doesn't help that I had bad smoke inhalation when I was younger. Or when the factory collapsed, I almost choked on the dust and smoke. My lungs are bad, Pipes. And when they tried to bring me back with the electric paddles-" he shrugged. "I have a tear. A hole. A gap they can't fill, and well, it's killing me. Literally and figuratively. Sometimes the anxiety I get when I'm around too many peoples causes...these attacks."

"Attacks?" She frowned. "Like an anxiety attack?"

"Something like that. And if my pulse gets too high and my head can't function right, then I go into cardiac arrest." His voice went flat. "And then I die."

"That sucks," Piper summed up. "Why haven't the doctors done anything about it yet?"

"They can't," Leo sighed. "I'm not on their top priority list. I also don't have the money- and I doubt it would even work, at this point. Even if I got a transplant, the new heart I got would reject me. Just like everything else in my life." The last word choked and cracked in his throat.

Piper leaned forward on the chair and took Leo's hand and rubbed them with her thumbs. "I haven't rejected you, you know. If money's you're worried 'bout, I got loads."

"Pipes, I could never-"

"Nonsense. Trust me, I have enough to probably _buy_ you enough hearts to last a lifetime."

"You're only supposed to have one heart in your lifetime," Leo said grimly.

"I still don't know why you didn't tell me," Piper reminded.

He squeezed her hand. "My whole life, people have looked at me and though '_oh, poor guy, sucks to be him, he's so pathetic_.' And I'm _sick_ of being the weak link. I am _not_ useless. I didn't want anyone to know because...well, because I'm tired of being treated like a child. I'm not eight years old anymore." His lip trembled. "I'm not the scared little boy who just lost his mother in a fire."

Piper wrapped her hands around him and leaned on the side of his bed, being careful not to lean on him. "That's not true," she put her palms against his cheeks, pointing his chin towards her. "I don't think you're useless. And if anyone ever thinks differently, well, they're obviously incredibly stupid."

"I'm an asshole, I kind of _am_ unimportant and useless," Leo grumbled.

"Shit with that. You're pretty damn important to me, and assholes aren't supposed to have hearts," she poked his chest where a wire with little measurements and doctors tools kept track of his health and made sure he was alive. It could be his lifeline. "But even if yours is torn and a little broken, it just proves you've got one, and everyone else can screw off. Even if that heart of yours decides it's gonna reject you someday and give up, well, you can be sure of one thing; I never, _ever_, am going to give up on you, Leo Valdez."

* * *

She kept a careful eye on him now. And when he asked her why, because he just felt weak again, she slapped the back of his head and said "Boy, there is nothing wrong with being looked after, so either get that through your thick head of yours, or I'll just shove the reminder up your ass."

* * *

He seemed back to normal. He was still afraid she'd look at him differently after she knew, but really, nothing changed. Leo started using his inhaler again, and found the pain in his chest had almost completely vanished.

* * *

...Still, that didn't explain the racing in his heart whenever she happened to walk by.

* * *

The last day of camp (after many conversations and pleading for her to return to camp), Piper was packed and standing at the edge of camp, waiting for her ride. A limo, probably, to take her to an airport and fly her across the country back 'home' with her neglectful father and her sucky high school.

Her bags were all lined up in a row while she waited. She'd gotten Annabeth's number to call her when she got the chance, and Percy made her promise to at least call them to say hello, but Leo had mysteriously vanished. Annabeth said he was probably moping, although as to why, she didn't care to explain further.

The trace of a sleek black limo appeared as a dot in the distance. Piper sighed when she saw it, glancing one last time back at the camp. She'd honestly miss the place, even with it's weird inhabitants. The campfire songs. Hanging out with Leo. The lake. Playing Mario Kart in the lounge.

"Hey," she heard his footsteps before she recognized the voice. "So, guess you're leaving."

Leo was in one of his old orange camp half blood shirts, a backpack slung over his shoulder and a sports bag on the other.

"Hey," Piper smiled. "Yeah, this is pretty much the end of the road."

Leo glared at his shoes. "Guess so." His voice sounded thick, like he'd just woken up from a long nap.

Piper walked over, and Leo put down his bags. "Maybe I'll come back next summer," she said doubtfully, reaching out to hug him.

He kept glaring at the ground, but accepted the hug and patted her back comfortingly. He didn't seem to believe her either. They pulled away and the engine of the limo roared nearer.

"You know, we could-" Piper started to say, when Leo's angry eyes snapped up and grabbed her. He pulled her closer, close enough to smell the mint toothpaste he used in the morning, motor oil, and his cheap cologne.

He kissed her.

Unlike Jason, he wasn't very experienced (neither was she, really), and he was awkwardly positioned, which made it even harder. Somehow his hands found her back, placed in just the right spots as he angled himself closer.

When he pulled away, his eyes didn't seem as angry, more dissatisfied. "I...wanted you to know. Before you left. Maybe change your mind." He seemed to be searching her eyes for something, and couldn't seem to find it.

He let go of her, but by sudden urge, Piper grabbed his shirt and pulled him back. Leo was surprised, and at first hesitated, but then wrapped his arms back around her and her own arms found their way to his neck.

He was gentle, and unsure, unlike Jason, who at times seemed to head in another direction neither of them were sure about. Leo seemed so hesitant, letting her lead.

The beeping of a car horn interrupted them, so when she pulled away she noticed the ruffle in Leo's hair and the bottom of his lip was swollen, maybe from when she bit him by accident.

"Bye," she managed, leaving him to stand dumbfounded at the bottom of the hill. The limo driver had apparently already gotten out and packed away her stuff, leaving the car door open for her to be invited in. When she hopped in the driver slammed the door shut, then went to the front and drove off.

She glanced out the window and saw Leo was still standing, looking like an idiot with the most confused expression on his face. They went over the hill and his face, and the rest of camp vanished behind the horizon.

* * *

She really hated flying.

* * *

Percy saw Leo gazing out longingly at camp as they drove away.

"So, you and Piper make out?" Annabeth teased him from the front seat, prodding his arm.

Leo blinked a few times, like a child just becoming adjusted to the world. "I...I'm not really sure what happened."

Percy slammed the breaks, almost sending Leo flying out the front window. "What!?"

"I..we..." Leo struggled to find the words. "She just took off in a limo and sped off into the distance."

"And you didn't go after her?" Annabeth shrieked. "Oh my god, I thought Percy was the only idiot in this world!"

"Hey!" Percy protested.

"God damnit," Annabeth moaned. "You guys were so close, why?"

"She just left me on the hill." Leo stated. "And I'm still having difficulty processing it. Give me a few days. Or months."

Percy slammed his head on the steering wheel and the car blasted out the horn. "You're an idiot, and an asshole, and I'm going to kill you."

"Okay," Leo said, but he wasn't really listening. He was still staring at the window as if there was something to look at.

Annabeth glanced in the rearview mirror at him, before putting her eyes back on the road and making sure Percy didn't drive off and get lost.

* * *

Percy got lost anyways.

* * *

School sucked that year. More than it ever had. Sometimes her mind wandered back to the last day of camp, reliving the last moment being in New York in her mind during classes and often falling into a daydream.

Her dad went back to pretending she didn't exist (which was actually fine by her), only to send one of his old advisors and fitness coaches, Gleeson Hedge, to make sure she was alive in their house.

"Hey Pipes!" Coach called from downstairs. "You alive?"

"Not sure," Piper called back.

"You better not be watching porn up there, young lady, or I'll skin you alive!"

"Oh no, I'm watching sexual activity on my television with people getting laid while I am reminded of my own innocence and the fact I'm not dating anyone. Boohoo."

She heard him laugh from downstairs. "Okay, have fun with that."

Piper was watching a video on her television of a slideshow of pictures that Camp halfblood sent her in an email, a collection of photos from the last summer. Her and Leo were in one of them, his arm wrapped around her shoulders while she squinted and smiled into the camera, while Leo was sideways glancing at her in the photo. If she looked closely, she could almost see the pain in his eyes.

Annabeth further explained Leo's condition over phone conversations. "He has anxiety problems," she claimed. "Sometimes in large crowds or when he's triggered he has...attacks. He's reminded of bad things in his life, and sometimes if we don't get there fast enough, he has a heart attack."

"Why did that happen?" Piper asked her.

Annabeth sighed over the phone. _"All because of that fire. It damaged his lungs, not to mention he was born with a bad heart, but with his anxiety and everything else- well, it wasn't a good combination. He has inhalers for just about anything, and thankfully he started taking his old medicine again right before he goes to sleep. Okay, too much information probably. I'm just worried about him. Me and Percy are technically his legal guardians this year_."

"Then who took care of him before that?"

"_Chiron. Percy's mom. A nice old foster home lady. She had this adorable pink poodle- nevermind. I gotta go, Percy is creating a nuclear wasteland in my kitchen_."

_"I'm cooking dinner_!" Percy retorted, his voice tinny and far off in the phone.

Annabeth laughed. "_We'll talk tomorrow, Piper. Have a nice night_."

The phone clicked and the line went dead. Piper rolled the phone over in her hands before she put her hands over her face and let out a big sigh. She put the phone back on the receiver and stared at the phone for a while.

One split second decision later, the phone was ringing again, and Piper was biting her lip and pacing around the room in short steps.

* * *

Across the state of California, a boy picked up. "'Ello?"

There was a pause, so hesitant on the other end of the line, like the other person wanted to hang up. "_Hi, Jason. It's me, Piper_."

Jason blinked a few times, and Reyna asked behind him. "Who's that?"

"Piper?" Jason asked, leaning against the wall and looking up at the ceiling. "Well, you're speaking to his friend, Jason is out at the moment."

"_Oh, haha, very funny_," he could almost hear her rolling her eyes at him.

"Haha, very funny," he mimicked. "So what's up, Pipes? How's school and all that wonderful stuff?"

"_Shitty. Shitty like hell. No- it _is_ hell. I'm tempted to light fire to the school half of the time and push it into hell myself_."

"Now now," Jason scolded. "_Thou shalt not toss thy school to hell_."

"_Don't tempt me, I'll toss you down too_."

"Please don't. Satan doesn't like me very much. I'm too blonde I think."

"_Eternal damnation_," Piper said in a scary low voice. "_Mwahaha_."

Jason laughed, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Reyna trying to sneak into the kitchen so she could listen to their conversation.

"How's life, seriously," Jason said.

"_Meh_." Even from the phone he could sense her indifferent shrug. "_How's yours?_"

"Busy. Camp is taking up most of my time, and now that I'm one of the camp leaders, it's even more ridiculous."

Jason heard a faint click on the phone, meaning Reyna had decided to eavesdrop. Piper didn't seem to notice, because she said "_Wow, that sucks. My camp doesn't start up until the summer and even then, I didn't take care of any of my responsibilities_."

"Yeah, I know," Jason chuckled. "Are you going back next year?"

Piper didn't say anything. Then she sighed. "_I don't know. My dad thinks I'm perfectly fine now, so maybe I'll just have to go rob a bank to get back in._"

"That really is not the best idea," Jason warned her. "You sound like you don't want to go back."

"_I do_," Piper protested. "_But...I can't_."

"Why not? I'm sure Percy and Annabeth would love to have you back, and Leo probably misses you."

Silence. Jason frowned. "Did you guys have a fallout?"

"..._No_." Piper sounded unsure. "_But things are just...awkward between us now._"

"Did he tell you he likes you?" Jason asked. Then he covered up his mouth. "Shit, I wasn't supposed to tell you that. Shit."

He could hear Reyna's silent laughter from the kitchen.

"Shut up, Reyna!" He pushed the phone away to yell at the other girl. "Sorry, I'm listening, please continue."

Piper groaned. "_I don't even know how to talk to him. I don't even know where to begin- I don't want to begin_."

"You are the laziest person I have ever met in my life."

"_Not gonna debate that, I am very lazy_."

He snorted in response. "Yes you are. But you should call him up, talk to him."

Piper, on the other end, flopped down on her bed. "_Yeah...but now I'm thinking that might not be the best idea_."

"Why not?"

"_I think I give him anxiety problems. He almost had a heart attack_."

Jason laughed. "Very funny."

"_No_," her voice intensified. "_I mean, literally. He has an inhaler and everything. He has heart problems, Jason, and Annabeth is warning me that he is gonna die in a year if they don't get him a new heart_."

He didn't say anything. "_Jason_?" Piper asked. "_You still there_?"

"How long have you known?"

"_A few weeks after you left. Why_?"

"...Why wouldn't he tell you something like that?"

"_No idea, he's Leo. He does whatever the fuck he wants._"

"Get his number from Annabeth," Jason ordered. "Or so help me, I will march to your mansion and bust down the front door and call him for you, and then embarrass you over the phone."

"_Holy shit, you mean business. Fine_."

"Good. Now get back to doing homework or whatever, I need to help my friend study for her Latin quiz tomorrow."

"I don't need help with that!" Reyna yelled back. Piper laughed into the phone.

"_See you later then, Jason. I'm gonna sleep, probably_."

"Nice talking to you, Pipes."

Jason hung up first. Reyna snuck up behind him and wrapped her arms around his middle. "Who was that?"

"Friend from the other camp," Jason said. "She's a nice girl. Now, about that latin quiz..."

* * *

Annabeth picked up on the third ring. "_Hello, Pipes_."

"Hey, I need Leo's number."

Annabeth paused. "_Why_?"

"Jason recommended I should talk to him."

"_Piper_," Annabeth said calmly. "_Last I heard from the Leo/Piper show, you guys made out and now he is very confused_."

"Yes, I am very aware of that," Piper played with one of the braids in her hair. "Please?"

"_Fine. I hope you've got a pen, you are disrupting my architecture study hour._"

"Thanks Annabeth, you're the best."

"_I know_," Annabeth agreed.

* * *

He opened the door and pushed it all the way open and slammed it shut behind him. The apartment was dark, so Leo groped along the wall awkwardly for a moment before finding the light switch. He flipped it on and the crappy ceiling lights burst into little miniature suns.

"Ah fuck," Leo tripped over a small collection of his shoes by the counter. He tossed his jacket onto one of the chairs next to the table and opened up the fridge. He recognized one of the blue-topped containers Percy and Annabeth always used, so he shut the door a little to read the note on the fridge.

_Cooked you dinner again- dropped by and saw you were working late again. Hope you like spaghetti and meatballs. Percy's mom made some extra for you._

_BTW- Piper called. She wanted to talk._

_~ Annabeth_

Leo got out the spaghetti. "Thank god, you women are lifesavers," he popped the container in the microwave.

With a fork halfway in his mouth, he nearly burned his dinner, and his hands were burning when he picked up the bowl again, nearly causing him to drop it. "Shit, shit, _fuck_."

The phone started ringing on the receiver, probably a message from his boss saying he needed to come back in, or to say he was fired. Neither sounded particularly intriguing, but Leo picked up the phone anyways. He leaned against the back of the counter and watched his steaming food on the table and his mouth watered for food.

"_Hola_, who's this?"

The phone crackled. "_Leo_?"

Leo sat up straighter, no longer slumping against the counter. "Who's this?"

"_It's Piper_," she hesitated. "_Hi_?"

She might have thought he hung up except for his slight breathing on the other end of the line. His voice came out a little forced. "Ah." He said, the tone a little higher than normal. "What's up, Beauty Queen?"

"_Hey Leo_," she sighed in relief. "_How's things in New York?_"

Something popped on the other end. "Shit, that's my food." Leo scrambled around for something and the phone crackled on the receiver. "Sorry, I just wasn't expecting you to...call."

"_Jason talked me into it_."

Leo's tone went sour. "Oh. Of course."

"_We were just catching up, and he was talking about camp and his girlfriend- she's a nice girl, I've met her over Skype before_." Piper continued. "_Very pretty too. I don't think you have much competition anymore, you know_."

"What are you talking about?" Leo demanded. "I do not crush on the daughters of a famous Hollywood movie stars, especially when there's a chance we'll never see each other again."

Piper sighed. "_And I don't crush on poor damaged heart-disease patients who might die in the next year, I can't get too attached. Leo, I'm trying to make it up to you. I'm sorry about everything that_-"

"No," Leo cut her off angrily, which she didn't understand. "Don't apologize for what you did. You're not sorry, and neither am I. Just...do me a favor and never call me again. I'm having stress nightmares from thinking about you, so I want to forget it ever happened and move on with my life."

"_Leo_-" Piper protested.

"Goodbye, Piper." The phone clicked and beeped. Piper only heard silence ringing through the end of the phone.

She slumped down on her bed and lay on top of the sheets, trying to figure out what she'd done wrong.

* * *

"I don't know how," her father said on the plane. "But you've actually managed to stay out of trouble for this whole year. I'm proud of you, Pipes."

"Thanks," she mumbled. "Not much of an accomplishment."

"So I'm thinking over the summer we could take a visit to France," her dad continued. "I think you deserve that much."

"I don't want to go to France."

"Why not? You speak pretty well, and you've always done well in French at school."

"_Ferme la bouche_," Piper muttered.

"Excuse me?" Her dad raised an eyebrow.

"Nevermind." Piper rolled over in the seat. "I'm just tired of you offering all these expensive trips. I'm not happy with school, or with all these vacation plans, and you're trying to buy me happiness with money. I don't want it."

"Then what do you want?" he asked. "You're sixteen, almost seventeen, you should be old enough for a car, if you want."

Piper shook her head furiously. "No. I want to go back to summer camp."

The room went silent except for the whirring of plane turbines outside the airplane windows. Her dad then said; "Why?"

"Because I felt normal there, Dad." Piper groaned internally at having this conversation with her father. "I made actual friends, and I miss it there. I'll steal another car if that's what it takes to get back."

Tristan McLean leaned back in his chair. "Is that really what you want, Pipes?" His voice turned softer, almost caring.

She glared at the white walls of the plane. Piper really hated flying.

"Alrighty then," Her dad picked up his cellphone. "I think I have a few calls to make."

* * *

"Leo," Annabeth sighed exasperatedly. "Why won't you even talk about her? I know what you're trying to do, you know."

"And what's that?" Leo growled under the bottom of the car. "You have no idea what I'm trying to do."

"You're trying to forget her, make her forget you, so you let her go." Annabeth said. "And it's not going to work."

"Why's that?" Leo grunted.

"It won't." Annabeth promised. "Trust me, it won't."

* * *

Piper had never been happier to see the old camp again. The familiar scent of pine and seawater, campers, the fire still burning in the center of camp. It felt like home.

Annabeth found her first. "Piper!" She exclaimed, jumping up and hugging her. "I'm so glad you made it! What changed your mind?"

"I think you mean 'what changed my dad's mind,'" Piper grinned. "He thinks you've all corrupted me, have me addicted to porn or something."

"Hey there Piper!" Coach trotted over to her carrying her vast assortment of bags. "I remember this place! I used to be a teacher here, but that's ancient history. Is Chiron still around?"

"Yep," Annabeth said. "Hey, I remember you. You're Coach Hedge, aren't you?"

Coach puffed out his chest with pride. "I assume you've only heard good things about me?"

"The best," Annabeth assured. "Now go see Chiron, he's in the Big House."

Coach dropped Piper's bags and ran off. Piper stifled a laugh- "What kind of good things have you heard?"

"I heard a rumor he scarred a lot of the campers here," Annabeth chuckled. "He retired a while ago, but he comes back every now and again."

"Small world," Piper said. "Hey, speaking of a small world, where's Leo?"

Annabeth looked down. "I don't think he's coming this year, actually."

Piper swallowed. "Why?"

"He's got some stupid plan," Annabeth started. "And there's a good chance he'll wear out his heart by the end of the year. I'm actually thinking that staying away from Camp is a good thing; he's going to be needing a heart monitor by the way things are going. I'm worried about him, Piper."

She rolled her eyes. "Sounds like Leo."

"Yes," Annabeth agreed. "It does."

* * *

"She's not coming this year," Percy said lazily, flicking some water at Leo. "I thought you already guessed that."

Leo put his head between his legs like he was going to be sick. "Figures," he muttered. "I'm going to go take a nap in my cabin then, wake me up at the end of summer."

Percy shrugged. "Suit yourself, but you're missing out the new batch of hot campers this year. Super hot."

"One," Leo brushed off the sand stuck to his pants. "You have a girlfriend. Two, I think you mean guys more than girls."

"Hey, it doesn't matter which team you bat for," Percy winked at him. "I think you're more of a gentleman's man than a ladies man, if you get my drift."

"I'm gonna knock you out, push you into the lake, and set _you_ adrift," Leo threatened. Percy laughed.

"Alright Valdez, you go rest. I'm gonna take a quick swim," Percy shrugged off his shirt and hopped out of his pants, going bear naked right into the lake.

"Hope no young girls stop by," Leo called after him as he walked away. "They'll steal you from Annabeth faster than my heart can stop."

"You're so not funny!" Percy yelled back. "Seriously, that had better be a joke!"

Leo laughed silently to himself. Percy was such a dork.

* * *

"How's things at camp?" Piper asked. "I'm thinking maybe I'll start coming here on a regular basis, you know, like you guys do."

Annabeth pursed her lips. "Me and Percy only have two more years, Piper. I'll have saved up enough money and hopefully gotten a scholarship to head off to college. Next year is my last year, and things are gonna change."

"Mmm," Piper replied in an uninterested tone. "So what is Valdez doing, then? Moping back at home?"

"He's been moping the whole year," Annabeth said. "Ever since you decided to make out on the hill."

Piper hoped she had the genes from her father that didn't allow her to blush. "That's ridiculous."

"Sure it is, I thought Leo was lying. Guess he's just a vivid day dreamer," Annabeth winked at her in a way that meant she knew she wasn't telling the truth.

"Where's Percy?" Piper asked in a desperate attempt to change the conversation.

"Over here," a pair of wet arms wrapped around her waist and tickled her. Piper shrieked and Percy laughed. "Gotcha, McLean."

"You little shit," Piper slapped his chest. "I could strangle you."

Percy tickled Annabeth too. "You asshole, stop that!"

He smirked. "Bitch."

"Ass." Annabeth narrowed her eyes. "Where have you been?"

"Down by the lake," Percy wiggled out of the crowd a little to let a group of girls pass. "Decided to take a swim."

"Sounds nice." Piper said.

Thunder boomed in the distance. Percy frowned and looked up at the sky. "Is it supposed to rain today?"

Annabeth frowned too. "No. That's odd."

"Maybe it's the sound of an atomic bomb blowing up the city," Piper offered.

"Or Godzilla taking down the Empire building," Percy agreed.

"I think it's the sound of two morons," Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"Hey!" Piper and Percy shouted indignantly.

Thunder sounded again in the distance from the direction of the sound. The entire pavillion heard it this time, and everyone went silent.

_Ba-boom, kssh_! Lightning arched in the sky like a violent firework. The storm had moved into the bay, not too far from camp. Someone screamed.

Percy stood up on the table and tried to get the panicked attention of the cabinmates in distress. "Campers! Report to your cabin leader and head for your designated cabin!" His hair whipped around and the sound of louder lightning and the wind starting to whip around the camp.

"Get your cabin," Annabeth told Piper. "Percy will get the others."

"Cabin Ten!" Piper shouted. "Over here! In a line, get to our cabin!" Other cabin leaders started calling their mates and heading towards the cabins on the other side of camp.

The wind picked up around her, blowing her choppy hair to one side. She never got around to cutting it last year, so it was longer than she remembered.

Inside the cabin, everyone was shaken up. Lightning struck again, followed by the deep mellow clash of thunder afterwards.

Piper did a head count. Michaels, Allens, Heartford, Tracy, Porter, Richel...

"Lacy," Piper's heart stopped. "Oh my god, guys, where is Lacy?"

Nicole, one of the newer campers, frowned. "She was with me. Do you think she got lost?"

Outside, the wind howled like a longing cry. The rain pounded on the roof in heavy volleys, it was a miracle the water didn't pour in.

"I have to find her," Piper said. "Use the cabin line, tell the leader of Cabin six that I'm outside."

She looked around the cabin. "Bethany, you start a game of Truth or Dare or something. I'll be right back."

Outside, the door slammed behind her, and she muttered "Guess I don't have to close it." The wind howled through the trees in a melancholy way. Thunder boomed even closer, and the only light she had was the guide of the lightning that shattered in the sky like a million lights.

The rain hit her first, heavy and soaking her within a minute. "Lacy!" she screamed, trying to overpower the howling of the gusts. "Lacy!"

Rain continued to pour down like a waterfall. Some part of the rational part of her mind mentioned how standing out in the middle of a thunderstorm was not a good idea, but the panic about Lacy managed to push it aside.

She screamed Lacy's name a few more times, but by now the rain was coming down so hard she couldn't see anything in front of her. She stumbled over a small flight of stairs and down into what she assumed was the pavillion.

The rain lessened, and Piper felt the rain covering up her tears. Where had that girl gone? She was supposed to be the counselor, keep them all safe. Not lose one of her campers on the first day.

"_Piper?_"

She turned as quickly as she heard the name. Leo stood a few feet away from her, blinking like he was looking at light for the first time.

"Leo?" It almost seemed like a whisper.

She's not sure but the moment she saw him; it was weightless. A meteor could have fallen from the sky and wiped out all of life off the face of the planet, and she couldn't care. Her heart made the most painful sound, he was standing so close to her, so close. The rain dripped off his soaking hair like her own.

He grabbed her roughly and smashed their lips together, trying to feel as much of her as he could in a single moment. Somehow they gained some direction, up against the nearest building wall. Her back pushed into the side of the pavilion wall while he dragged his hands up her legs and lifted her higher on his waist. All the while, the rain kept falling and slowly decreasing in volume. The thought of Lacy slowly slipped away like the dripping rain.

The rain dripped off the tip of her nose and the salty taste of rain filled her mouth as he ran his hands over her cold shoulders and she shivered (not from the cold, she was sure it was just the touch of his skin on hers that sent sparks down her spine).

She broke apart to breathe, but his lips traced down her jaw, and then her neck, each more tender than the last while she panted and let the water from her soaked hair drip down onto her clothes while she wrapped her fingers in his hair and held on like it was the only thing keeping her on earth.

Leo withdrew from her shoulder. "I thought you weren't coming back," he said desperately. "Perce said you weren't coming-"

"Annabeth said you were hooked up to a heart monitor," Piper frowned.

Leo winced. "Uh. About that."

"Leo!" Piper scolded, but Leo managed to distract her again. When he panted to breathe he pulled away and pulled their foreheads together, close enough for their noses to touch and Piper to feel the cold rain still against his hair.

"This is rather cliche," Leo murmured. "Kissing in the rain really isn't my style."

"Yeah, well, it's a fucking hurricane out there," Piper smirked. "So tough shit."

"Guess that could be our thing," Leo winked at her and pushed her back against the pavillion.

* * *

"Where have you been?" Bethany asked when she came back a few hours later and tripped into her cabin, still giddy and soaking wet. "Oh my god, you're soaked!"

"Hey Lacy," she pointed to said girl, sitting on one of the cabin bunks and looking bored. "Found Lacy."

Lacy raised an eyebrow. "_Girl_, I've been here for the last two hours. Where have _you _ been?"

"Nowhere important," she answered vaguely, the wide smile of her face not shrinking and the joy in her stomach and throat wouldn't fade. Her hair was a mess and her lips were raw and dry, but she felt like she could have simply lifted her feet off the ground and taken off into the sky and vanished into the clouds.

"Okay," Bethany gave her a suspicious look. "We're playing Truth or Dare. Care to join?"

"No," Piper said, her unnerving smile never wavering as she collapsed into her bunk ."I think I'm gonna sleep. See you guys tomorrow."

* * *

That night he snuck to her window, tapping the glass until she rolled over and opened the window. She was only in a thin cover up and a pair of unmatched socks, her hair still wet from the late shower she took that night.

"Leo," she whispered.

"Here," he grinned through the window. "Are you feeling adventurous?"

"Always," she grabbed his hand and he pulled her through the tiny window, into his arms, and they bolted for the shore. And they continued on the beach, chasing each other under the light of the moon and splashing one another until she fell into the waves and he brought her out, kissing her again and laid her back on the sand. They stayed up the whole night, and she woke up when the sun started rising, shared a look with him and they ran hand in hand back to their cabins.

Hers was closer, so when they neared it he kissed her one last time and retreated to his cabin and vanished. She let out a huge, relieved sigh and walked up the steps to her cabin- only to reveal an awake group of campers led by Bethany.

"Oooh, who's the boy?" she cooed.

"Shove off," Piper pushed past her and made her way to her bottom bunk. "Just talking to a friend."

"Yep," Lacy giggled. "When he pulled you through the window and you two made out on the beach."

Piper shoved her face into her pillow. "We did _not_ make out."

"_Sure_ you didn't," Nicole urged. "_Sure_, we believe you."

Piper tossed a pillow at her cabin mates and took a short nap until it was time for morning duties and the bell for breakfast came.

* * *

Annabeth and Percy were already sitting at table three. Piper stared across the room from Annabeth and got her food quietly and sat across the table from the other two.

Percy raised both eyebrows and remarked "Someone's quiet this morning."

"Mmm," Piper said. "Someone's also a big fat ass liar."

Annabeth made a face. "About what?"

"About lying to us," she felt Leo's arms wrap around her waist from behind. He kissed her forehead gently and sat next to her.

Percy spat out his pancake. "Jesus fucking-"

"Do not say Christ," Annabeth ordered. "Jesus doing himself is considered masturbation."

Percy choked on his pancake. "I think I just choked on a bit of my soul," he coughed. "Don't do that while I'm eating."

Annabeth glanced at Leo and Piper, who were dreamily gazing into each other's eyes. Percy made a barfing motion in his mouth and Annabeth slapped his arm. "Stop that!"

Leo and Piper snapped up. "What?"

"Not you," Annabeth pleaded, realizing she was ruining the moment. "Come on Percy, we got chores."

"But-" Percy protested as his girlfriend dragged him away. "Pancake!"

"You idjit," Annabeth complained. "Can you not see that they're-" she gestured to the two at the table.

Percy's eyes popped. "Well, this begins the horrific sexual tension. _Ow_!"

Annabeth punched him in the arm.

* * *

Every night they snuck out to visit the beach, and every night they spent as much time together as they could, because when the summer ended, they knew it would have to be goodbye. And for too long a goodbye.

"I love you," Leo told her one night.

"Me too," Piper mumbled into his chest.

"No," Leo insisted. "I mean, really, really love you. Like- _wow_."

"Mmmm," Piper mumbled tiredly in an uninterested hum.

Leo stroked the hair and the framed sides of her cheeks. "You have no idea, Pipes."

Piper's eyes fluttered but she kept sleeping. He sighed.

* * *

"So, today's topic in the camp is- scars," Leo plopped down next to her. He slowly dug up his pants up to the top of his leg.

"Uhm," Piper glanced around the room. "Leo, what are you doing?"

"Hm," Leo tugged on the edge of his pants. "Maybe I should just take them off."

"Leo," Piper repeated with a little more strength. "Please put your pants back on, they are distracting."

He grinned mischievously. "What, you never seen the inside of a guy's pants before?"

"No, and I'd like to keep it that way." Leo rolled her over onto the floor and pinned her arms down to kiss her. She laughed a little nervously and tried to push him away, but he kept her against the ground.

"Leo." Piper said with more intensity. "Stop."

He looked in her eyes and saw she wasn't kidding around, so he loosened his grip on her. "Fine, Piper Party Pooper."

Then his zipper went loose and his pants fell off.

Leo turned red. "That was actually an accident."

Piper snorted. "Nice boxers."

"They used to be white," Leo tried to explain. "Then the machine I used somehow turned them rainbow."

"Very gay," Piper noted. "You sure you're into girls?"

"Shove off," Leo brushed the side of his boxers. "Besides, I wanted to show you something."

"This can't be good," Piper muttered under her breath.

Leo beckoned to her with his finger. She sighed. "That better not be seductive, because you suck."

"So will you- _OW_! Okay, that was a joke, please don't hurt me." Leo rubbed his arm tenderly. "Don't hit me again."

"Don't be a pervy bastard, you asshole."

"Point taken," Leo winced. "But seriously." His eyes darkened a shade. "I...never show anybody these."

He lifted the back of his shirt a little near his side, where Piper traced her hands around his waist. Leo sucked in a breath when she traced a tiny scar over his hip. "That's all?" she teased. "One tiny scar?"

Then she noticed the line and her teasing smile shrunk. "Oh," she said faintly, her hands following the line up his back.

Leo closed his eyes. "They're all over my legs too," he murmured softly. "When the workshop collapsed, my legs got pinned underneath, the part of my back got burned..."

Piper seemed fascinated by the scars. Since no one was around in the counselor cabin, she lifted off the rest of his shirt and traced circles over his spine. He shivered a little when she walked her fingers all the way to the bottom.

"Piper..." Leo groaned. "Uncomfortably turning me on, please stop."

She giggled. "Oops," she wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled herself even closer on his bare chest. "Sorry." It wasn't apologetic.

"You'll be the end of me," Leo swore to her. "You've completely ruined me."

"Maybe," Piper agreed, taking his hands and moving them to her waist. "Don't forget that damaged people can repair one another." He looked at her imploringly when she lifted her shirt a little to reveal a bunch of tiny scissor shaped scars. Leo stopped breathing as he traced them.

"I fell out of a window," she explained. "Or, well, jumped out. It was about two years ago. My dad was kind of ignoring me, and people at school made fun of me because I didn't do normal things and didn't have friends- well. I couldn't take it. I imagined I could fly and just- jumped. Three story window."

Leo picked up her wrists and kissed the inside. "I am very happy you didn't die."

"And I'm happy you didn't either."

"Very happy," his lips traced up to her shoulder. "_Very_, very happy."

* * *

"This is a really stupid idea," Annabeth groaned. "Out of stupid and really stupid."

"Aw come on," Percy nudged her shoulder. "None of us have ever gone dancing, it'd be fun!"

"Very fun," Leo didn't agree, tugging on the tie around his neck. "Yes, as this mental contraption strangles the air out of me."

"I don't want to come out," Piper called from the stall. "You guys go without me."

"Oh, come on Piper," Annabeth stomped her foot against the floor, almost snapping the silver heels she was wearing with the blue cut dress. "I have to go, so do you."

"Ugh..." They all heard Piper's deep sigh. "Fine."

She unlocked the door and stepped out, and Leo swore his heart actually stopped beating.

Piper's hair was curled on the top in a tiny bun top with curls spilling out. Her dress was red, radiantly red, the same shade as her lips. The dress was cut in front and longer in the back, making a sort of bridal train effect behind her when she walked and..._wow_. Leo swallowed and tried to remember how to breathe.

"Damn," Percy commented. "Too bad I'm taken." Annabeth slapped his arm. "_Ow_!"

Leo felt dizzy, walking over to her in a daze, where she took his arm and bit her lip nervously.

"He he he," Percy laughed quietly. "Valdez is so turned on, I know who's gonna be banging tonight. _Ow_! Dammit Annabeth, _stop slapping me_!"

"Come on," Piper nervously twirled a curl of her hair. "Let's just dance and get this over with before Chiron or anyone else finds out."

* * *

The club or bar or whatever they went to was small, and thankfully not very crowded. Still, somehow Leo ended up against Piper the entire time, which he had a feeling was Percy's fault.

Piper had a good time. Leo stepped out once when the lights made him a little sick to use his inhaler and calm himself.

His heart still raced whenever Piper walked by him. He doubted that would ever change.

Once upon a time when he was younger, he remembered something his mother used to say in Spanish. He'd forgotten most of it, except for "_The most damaged people smile brightest_."

Leo smiled. He was damaged, damaged beyond full repair, but he could live with that. He had Piper and a life to live. Somehow, in that quest to find someone else, he'd managed to do the impossible. _Impossible_.

He'd managed to do the impossible, like trying to catch smoke.

* * *

"You guys bang all night?" Percy asked Piper in the morning, earning him a knee into the groin.

"Ah," he groaned. "Take that as a no."

"Hey Pipes," Leo wrapped his hands around her waist. "All packed?"

"Mhm, no." She shrugged his arms off. "Want to help me?"

"That's an invitation," Percy wiggled his eyebrows. This time Leo punched him in the gut.

"Ow, everyone is so mean to me," Percy complained as the other two walked away. "Why am I friends with any of these people?"

"Love, Jackson, because of love," Leo called back. "Lots 'o love."

* * *

Piper kissed him goodbye, right in front of the limo and everyone at camp. Leo pressed their foreheads together and asked "You'll come visit, right?"

She smiled sadly. "I'll see if I can make it on the weekends. You better call."

"Promise," Leo kissed her forehead. "Have fun in France."

She let go of his hand and got into the limo. Leo raised a hand to wave as the limo drove away off into the distance, the dust covering her last image of camp.

Piper looked out the window longingly. If only she could fast forward to next year.

* * *

Leo nearly collapsed into his apartment. He'd had possibly the shittiest day at work, not to mention he was fired shortly after, but he'd forgotten his inhaler. His heart was already racing, and he felt lightheaded to the point of passing out.

His door swung open for him before he could put the key in. A hazy image of Annabeth came over him, his head swaying while he crawled on his knees to get inside. Percy appeared around the corner, half a slice of pizza in his hand before he dropped it to help him up.

Annabeth's voice seemed to echo in the base of his skull in a low hum. "What happened?"

Nothing came to his mouth, because he felt like he was choking. The dull heartburn he'd passed off earlier in the day became a painful fire in his chest. Percy shoved an inhaler practically down his throat while Annabeth helped him onto a couch.

After a full terrifying ten minutes he gasped for air and pushed the inhaler away. Annabeth looked pissed. "Didn't you take your medication this morning?"

"I did," Leo coughed. "But I forgot my inhaler at work. And then I almost died."

Percy patted his chest. "How's that heart holding up?"

He winced and tried to sit up. "Not that great, honestly."

"Don't worry," Annabeth said, although she sounded worry. "I'm sure you're on the list this time. They just have to find the right person to donate their heart-"

"How would someone willingly donate their heart?" Leo asked bitterly. "It's not like it's my fucking kidney, Annabeth. If my fucking kidney had cancer they would have fixed me already. You know why that is? Because I can function perfectly fine without my kidney, but nobody can function without a heart."

* * *

Someone slammed his locker shut in his face and almost broke his fingers. Leo whirled around and found himself facing the group of world's biggest assholes and douches that would ever exist.

Leo frowned deeply at their menacing smiles. He'd outrun them before, that wasn't the problem, but there was more of them. A few more surrounded him and blocked his exit. Well, damn.

"Where are you going, shorty?" One of them taunted. "You going back to your little mommy, go crying like the little pissy fucktard you are?"

Leo ground his teeth furiously. "My mom's dead."

"Aw, boohoo, little orphaned Valdez," the bigger one taunted, the one missing three of his teeth and a black bruise on his each of his eyes like usual, like he'd lost a battle with smacking his head against a locker and made him even more stupid than he already was. "You and your little fucktard family. What's that asshole? Prissy?"

"Leave them out of it," Leo snapped. "They're good people who gave me somewhere to live, and much better people than any of you douchebags could ever hope to be. They'll get nice jobs and a nice house while you can go rot in hell for all I care."

The leader of the group was a scrawny little blonde asshole named Octavian. Mostly he went by Tavian, trying to be cool in his tightly knit group of slow shithead friends. Leo wasn't scared of Octavian by a long shot, the kid looked like he could barely lift a pillow. He was, however, afraid of the influence he had on the bullies in the school.

Brawny and bad breath slammed him into his locker, popping the lock off. The door swung open to reveal all his messy collection of designs, and a few of his pictures of Piper smiling in the glazed photo that kept him smiling too.

One of the cronies picked up the photo and jeered. "Who's this, your ugly stepsister?"

He bit his tongue to keep himself from losing it. "No," he ground his teeth even harder. "That's my girlfriend."

"No way he could have gotten a chic like that," the beefier one said. "She's way out of your league."

"Leave her alone."

"I bet there's loads of things I could do to a whore like her," Bad breath taunted. "Man, she could have a better night with me than you could ever give-"

In a simple move he kicked his leg under the latter and swept him off the floor. Tavian in the back scattered and took refuge and hit behind one of the bigger bullies. Before he could even control the roaring in the back of his head and the blood pounding in his ears, he punched the guy in the face. Then again. And again. Blood poured out of the nose of the other while Leo punched him again, over and over again. One of the other guys made a grab for him and tore him off Bad breath and threw him into a locker.

Now, five angry looking idiots glanced menacingly at him, and Leo knew whether he had a bad heart or not, he was going to die.

"Leo Valdez, report to the Attendance office immediately." A lifesaving voice came over the intercom and almost like a retreating fog the bullies vanished.

Leo picked up the torn photo of Piper on the ground and kissed the glossy surface before putting it back in his locker. He took his bag and his coat, because he figured he'd be in the office a while.

When he came in, the secretary at the desk was glaring at him nastily like he'd crawled out of a sewer. "Yes?"

"Name," she ordered.

"Mrs. Gorges, I've gone to this school for four years-"

"Name." she repeated.

"Leo Valdez," he sighed.

She looked down on her list. "Yes. You have a doctor's appointment today, and your cousin or whatever is here to pick you up. Miss Elmcan, she said."

"Huh?" Leo raised an eyebrow curiously. He didn't remember any cousins, especially since none of them even knew he existed. The one who usually picked him up for appointments was Annabeth, Percy, or Percy's mother. He'd never even met any of his cousins.

The attendance secretary threw him a hall pass. "Don't stare at me stupidly, her car is out front. Now get out."

Leo held the note in his hands while still frowning as he walked out of the school. As predicted, a car sat out front. The car was light grey, like the color of Annabeth's eyes, new and obviously very expensive. He made his way to the window and tapped, while the driver rolled down the window.

"Hey Valdez, get in the car," the woman's voice said. He opened the door and thought stupidly; why am I getting in a strangers car?

He tossed his bag in the back of the car on the seats. "Who are you?"

The lady laughed and threw off her sunglasses and hat. "Has it been that long that you don't recognize me already?"

He gaped as she pulled him in for a kiss. "P-Piper?" He stammered. "How did you-?"

"I have money, influence, and a famous name, I could hunt you down if I needed to all the way across the globe." Piper pulled out the brake and slowly drove out of the school parking lot. "Also Percy mentioned where you guys went. It wasn't hard."

"You came all the way to see me?" Leo asked, still in shock. "And who's _Mrs_. _Elmcan_?"

She giggled and nearly forgot to brake at a stop sign. "Psudynym, my dad insists on them. And of _course _ not. Me and Annabeth have been planning to meet up for ages. Tonight we'll meet up at Mrs. Jackson's house and have dinner."

"Then what are we gonna do until then?" Leo asked incredulously. "That's like, six hours from now."

Piper pulled into a familiar parking lot and flipped her shades back on. "Well, I'm thinking I'd like to check out your apartment."


	3. ashes

_**title**_: the art of catching smoke [ashes- 3/3]

_**summary**_: Because that's what Leo Valdez was: smoke. Smoke that always slipped through her fingers and dissipated when she tried to breathe.

_**pairing**_: leo/piper [side pairings of percy/annabeth, mentioned piper/jason]

**_rating_**: T [definitely strong language and implied ~_smut_~]

_**disclaimer**_: rick riordan owns pjo and I, do not

_**anon reviews**_: _samm10_ - Leo does need a blessing...well you'll see. I'm updating now :) ~ _Random demigod_ - This was a very long process to decide what conditions he had, trust me. Lots of research, bleh. As for Leo's fate...well you'll have to see.

_**a/n-**_it's been an adventure, guys. thanks for the -_few_- reviews, every bit helps, and the comments to help make this story as fantastic as it possibly could be. here's the end now; as cruel and heartbreaking as i could possibly make it. -sigh- i just realized that with each of these they only got longer and this one peaked 14000 words god damn oh well  
(psstt i dont know anything about curing heart disease this is from google reasearch and unless you are a heart donor or a cardiologist dON'T CORREcT ME)  
(i someday hope to host the almighty spirit of lord john green)

* * *

_**the art of catching smoke**_

* * *

_ashes_

* * *

Leo was glad he didn't forget his keys at school. His apartment door crept open slowly when he pushed it.

Piper dropped her travel bag with her clothes on the floor next to the kitchen. "Nice place," she observed.

"Yeah, welcome to Leo's Five Star Motel," he muttered.

She grabbed his shirt and kissed him. "Stop that. I love it."

"Yeah, real love with the on/off heater, my sink never fucking works, and half of my counter looks like it's been eaten by a giant slug."

She snorted. "Radioactive slugs in your apartment? I think you should file a complaint."

"Nah, it's only like that because I passed out once and broke it in half when I tried to stop my fall. Broke my wrist. Blah."

"You're such a shitty role model," Piper accused. "Couldn't you have passed out on a bed?"

"Well, next time I'll aim for something more comfortable, if that pleases you."

She made him show a tour of him small shitty apartment; the kitchen, the small two seat table for two (or five if Percy and his family came over), the tiny bathroom with one small shower stall and a sink and toilet for his own personal needs, then his tiny family room with his junky television and outdated game system for when he got tired of studying. Finally they came to his bedroom and she paused at his desk.

"You sketch all of these?" she asked, rolling her hands through his stacks of designs.

Leo shrugged. "My mom was an engineer. I've always like building things. Although I'll never have enough money to make any of these..."

She glanced around his messy room. His sweatshirt hung off his desk chair, along with a few of his shirts hung off the side of his queen sized bed. (He wanted a twin but the queen was the only thing he found at a local garage sale. Up until that point he slept on his sleeping bag from camp.)

"Where are you staying tonight?" Leo blurted out, desperate to keep up a conversation.

She fingered the edge of his sweatshirt on the chair without looking up. "I was kinda hoping I could stay with you tonight, if that's alright."

"Uhm-" he was pretty sure his face turned red in a violent blush. His pulse quickened in his ears. "Uh-"

Piper glanced up and noticed his difficulty. "If that's a problem, Annabeth said I could crash at her place."

"Uh- No, nono, that's not a problem." Dammit, why was he such a nervous shaky bastard? "That's okay with me." He leaned casually on the doorframe and missed the door, slamming his shoulder into the frame. "Ah _shit_."

He heard her trying to stifle a laugh. "You got any movies?"

"Not much, why?"

"You pick a movie," she tossed him a bag of DVDs. "I'm gonna put my stuff in here." She kissed his cheek and walked out.

Leo blinked a few times before he left the room.

* * *

Piper placed her bag down gently on the caramelized rug in Leo's room. His room was mostly blank, maybe because he had ADHD and needed a clean space to organize his thoughts, she didn't know. The only pictures he had on the walls were the ones right by the head of his bed. She slowly walked over to the bed, picking up his sweatshirt to pick it up and smell it, the comfortable smell of cheap cologne, aftershave, and machine oil. Shivering, she realized Leo was right about the faulty heater, and having only light clothes, she shrugged on the extra sweater. The green logo of Leo's school stood out proudly on her chest for a school she didn't even attend.

Quietly, she crept up on his bed, trying not to make a sound. The bed springs squeaked and bounced under her weight, and she hoped Leo didn't hear her from the other room. Maybe the walls weren't that thin.

With her eyes scanning the wall, she placed her fingers across the glossy edges of the wrinkled photos. Most of them were of him and Percy and Annabeth, grinning and having fun. A few more had photos of her and Leo, and one of them was simply Piper staring off to the side while the sun bleached over the side in a way that must have struck Leo as something beautiful.

Further in the middle, he had older photos. Photos from school when he was younger, a yellowed photo of an old man holding a tiny baby in a rocking chair and smiling kindly, and the last had a photo of a pretty woman, not petite or particularly stunning, but when her hands traced the photo she knew it had great importance to Leo.

"That's my mom," Leo's voice called from the doorway. He had his arms crossed across his chest and staring with at her with an unreadable expression.

"Oh, I'm sorry-" she started to push herself away from the wall.

He shrugged. "It's okay."

"She was beautiful," Piper said. "You miss her a lot."

"More than you could know," He straightened. "Movie time?"

"Sure. I hope you have popcorn." Piper tried for what was a friendly smile, which he didn't return. He kept staring at the wall of photos as if it was coated in poison. Slowly she slipped her hand into his and managed to take him back to the couch, where she laid on top of him and rested her head on his chest. As they watched the movie she kept listening to his heartbeat, weary and fighting to keep Leo alive. _Tha-thump. Tha-tha-thump. Tha-tha-tha-thump. Thump. Thump. Tha-thump._

The uneven beats worried her. It reminded her of a car engine having difficulty starting; the engine had to keep restarting before it died, like the ones in the old cars. That was concerning.

Leo fell asleep at some point, so she mostly focused on his face and tried to ignore the sounds from the movie cinema. Her feet were wrapped around his for warmth, along with his arms to keep her secure and in place.

When the movie was over she pecked his lips and unwrapped her legs. "Wake up, we're gonna have lunch now."

His eyelids fluttered several times and he asked in a thick Spanish accent; "_Que va?_"

Then he blinked and asked again in a sleepy accented voice: "Hey there Pipes. What time is it?"

"Time for lunch." She kissed his nose. "What have you got?"

He leaned upright and she slid down his legs into his lap. "Hmmm..." he closed his eyes and nearly fell asleep again. "I have in Chef Leo's five star restaurant; Cheetos, pretzels, last years Halloween candy, several cartons of juice, and many microwave meals. Pick your choice."

"Mmm," Piper hummed. "None of that sounds particularly appetizing. I think we should wait until dinner."

"_Hunnggghh_," Leo groaned and fell backwards onto the couch. "That sounds good. I'm tired."

"You just slept through that entire movie." She complained.

Leo waved her off. "I haven't slept properly in like, three thousand years. Sleepy time for me."

Piper sighed in pure irritation. Then, she shrugged off Leo's sweatshirt and threw it across the room to the other sofa chair he had sitting next to the television. She spread herself across his body and then kissed him delicately.

He groaned from underneath her. "I wanna sleep," he whined.

"Then let me sleep with you."

Leo pulled a blanket from off the coffee table and spread it out over them. "Nap time. Wake me when I'm dead."  
Piper snuggled into his chest and listened to his dying heart trying to beat out as much life as it could before it finally died.

* * *

Percy noticed she was wearing one of Leo's sweatshirts and raised both eyebrows when he opened the door for them.

Annabeth poked her head under his arm. "Piper!" She hugged her friend.

Leo got poked in the arm by Percy. "You look tired," he commented.

"I sure hope not, I just took a four hour nap on my couch." He walked in the room and peeled off his shoes. "What's cooking in the Jackson house?"

Percy's step father, Mr. Blofis, one of the nicest english teachers in his school, answered for him. "Weather's chilly, Sally wanted a nice big Pot Pie for dinner." At Piper's glance he added "And Sally made a special vegetarian quiche for you, Miss McLean."

"Thanks Mrs. Jackson," Piper smiled gratefully. She glanced at Annabeth like '_who told_?' and she nodded in the direction of Percy.

"Call me Sally," Mrs. Jackson insisted. "I've heard so much about you, Piper. Nice seeing you too, Leo."

"Hi Sally," Leo waved and smiled gently. A dull pain started up in his chest again and by instinct he automatically reached for his inhaler in his coat pocket. For a second he winced when a wave of pain passed through his system, meaning his painkillers had probably faded. The action did not go unnoticed by Annabeth, who told him to go to the bathroom and take his prescription again.

With little difficulty he found the bathroom in the Jackson's apartment. Once inside he closed the door and put his hands on each side of the counter for support, breathing in steadily before he glanced up at the mirror.

His reflection looked lucid. Even the mirror knew he was running out, running out of time in the little timer inside his heart. Did it know it's beats were numbered? That someday the ticking would stop and he'd cease to breathe and live and love ever again? Did it know he was going to _die_?

Leo opened the tablet with shaking fingers and swallowed the tiny caplet. He glanced one more time in the mirror and splashed water on his face, trying to remove the unattractive ashy paleness he had acquired from phantom pain and flashes of hot reminders through his heart.

* * *

"I'm so _stuffed_," Piper flopped down on Leo's bed when they got in the apartment. She then peeled off her shoes using the other foot and tossed them across the room, also stripping off Leo's sweatshirt and tossing it onto the edge of his bed.

"I'm gonna brush my teeth," Leo said. "You need to use the bathroom?"

"Yeah, after you. I'm gonna get into my pajamas," she picked herself off the bed and reached for her travel bag.

Leo went into the bathroom and took another painkiller. He brushed his teeth and attempted to flatten his hair, which refused to stay on his head. Remembering that Piper would be sleeping in his apartment that night came back and caused him to flush in front of the mirror.

She would be in his _apartment_.  
In the same _room_.  
In his _bed_.

_Dammit_, he thought. He doubted he'd be able to fall asleep with that reminder in his head. Curse dude hormones, now there's a turned on horny boy in his apartment with his girlfriend and _ah shit_.

Piper knocked on the door and dragged him from his thoughts. "Out, I gotta use the bathroom. Go get changed."

He opened the door and squeezed past Piper and back into his room. The drawers in his room never quite opened right, most times sticking or getting jammed in the drawer. So when he stripped off his jeans and tossed them into the tiny hamper he had squished in the corner of his room for laundry, the drawer wouldn't open.

"Ah, _fuck_." Piper was going to open the door at any moment and walk into the room to find her boyfriend shirtless and wearing nothing but his bedtime boxers. "_Fuck_."

How embarrassing would that be? Leo didn't want to find out, so with great relief the drawer finally opened and he hopped into a pair of his long pants specifically for sleeping.

Behind him he heard the door open and close. "You decent?"

"Got no shirt, but I'm covered." He turned and picked Piper up easily, making her shriek. "Shh! My neighbors are upstairs!"

"Sorry," Piper whispered more quietly. "Hey, you wanna listen to my favorite song?"

"I'm sure I've already heard it."

"Of course you have!" She smiled brightly and took out her new iPod from her pocket. "You're the one that gave it to me."

* * *

_12:59 AM_

Leo glared at his alarm clock and the beady little red numbers glowing back at him.

_1:00 AM_

"Fuck," he muttered and rolled over in his pillow. Piper was fast asleep next to him, her hair blown off the side of her face and the air coming out of her mouth in little puffs.

He slammed his head back into his pillow and stared at the ceiling. When he couldn't take it anymore he rolled over and groped around on his nightstand for his bottle of painkillers again.

To his annoyance, the bottle was empty. "Ah, double _fuck_." Not to be irritated by the thought of staying up any later, he rolled out of bed and went into the bathroom.

In the mirror his eyes looked bloodshot. The ashy gray palor had returned to his face. With a deep frown he opened the medicine cabinet on the other side of the mirror and squinted at the labels to find which ones were sleeping pills.

After a few minutes of searching for a bottle not past the expiration date, he closed the cabinet and swallowed the pill before heading back to bed. Piper made a tiny groan when he slipped back under the covers next to her, and waited for the drug to kick in.

Finally, he closed his eyes and went to sleep.

* * *

At last, the final bell of school rang and Leo practically ran home. He was tired and needed to take his medication, which he had forgotten in the morning, and caused an entire day of pain for him to suffer through.

He burst in the door and dropped his bags and ran for the bathroom. After he swallowed his pill he leisurely made his way to the kitchen and hummed some random tune as he peered through his food for something to eat. Both times he passed the family room and completely missed the seventeen year old girl laying on his couch and watching him.

"_Lala dum de dum, school fucking sucks_," he hummed and threw his meal in the microwave, sticking a fork in his mouth and hopping around the kitchen. Then he put the fork down and tapped his fingers against the counter as he waited for his food to be done.

Without really thinking, he scanned his apartment, all in order as usual and messy, except a leather bag leaning against the railing by the living room. Leo made a face and walked over to it, and nearly jumped out of his skin when a girl's voice said; "Hey Valdez."

"JESUS CHR-" he spun around and saw Piper sitting on his couch, and nearly gave himself a heart attack. He collapsed into the chair and gaped at her. "-IST?"

"Wrongo, I am not a two thousand year old belief system," Piper grinned. "How was school?"

"Sucked balls, as usual." Recovering from the initial shock, he got up. "How in hell did you get into my apartment?"

"Broke in," she shrugged it off as if the fact was almost nothing. At his glare she snorted. "Just kidding. Asked your doorman for the key and said I was paying you a visit. I mean, who can resist a pretty smile?" She winked and smiled flirtatiously at him.

"You are a very dangerous woman," Leo told her.

"I know," she took his arms and wrapped them around her. "Good thing I'm the one protecting you."

* * *

Percy dialed her up in the middle of the afternoon during a lesson with Piper's private tutors for Math. Her father refused to let her attend a normal school anymore, ever since the media had found out Tristan McLean had a daughter and had followed her to school. Now he hired random teachers to educate her like at a homeschool; which was perfectly fine with Piper. She hated school anyways.

Her tutor glared at her phone on the counter. "Didn't you turn it off?"

"I should have," Piper frowned. "My father only calls when there's an emergency." With a quick apologetic smile at her teacher she stood up to answer the phone.

"Hello?" She asked and covered her other ear with her hand. "Who's calling?"

"_Piper?_" Percy's voice came out the other end. "_Leo's gone._"

She put her hand over her mouth. "Like, _gone _ gone? Is he-?"

"_No_! _That came out wrong. I mean he's not at his apartment, his car is home but he's not, and he's not answering any of our calls. We have no idea where he is_."

With that news her legs felt weak, and she sat down faintly on the chair next to the counter. "How- how do we find him?"

"_Annabeth has a feeling he'll call you_," Percy said. "_If he does, get on a plane and find him. Wait- Annabeth wants to talk._"

The phone was jumbled around as it was handed to Annabeth. "_Piper, you have to go to this address; 339 Memorial House, Houston._"

"Houston," Piper repeated. "As in, Houston, Texas?"

"_Yes. Leo's old hometown,_" Annabeth sounded grim. "_Today is the tenth anniversary of his mother's death. And I don't think he's taking it very well_."

* * *

Across the field, the sun rose in giant rays across the sleek black surface of Piper's limo. Dust rolled off the streets as the driver pulled into a lot of a cemetery.

"You sure you don't want me to come with you?" Gleeson Hedge, her limo driver, asked her. "Your dad told me to make sure absolutely nothing happened to you."

"It's really fine, Coach, I can handle myself out there." she assured him. "I'll call you when I need to be picked up. Go get lunch or something. Here," she handed him a fifty. "Have some fun. I'm gonna need a little time with my boyfriend. He's- he's having a rough year."

"Leo, isn't it?"

"The one from summer camp," a nod from her head in agreement. "Pick me up when I call you. See you soon."

She opened the door and climbed out of the limo. The limo rolled out of the drive and rolled away in the distance.

"Row 37, Row 37," Piper kept muttering as she counted the rows.

At around Row 20, she finally spotted the figure before she spotted the row. Leo was crouched at one of the graves and hugging his arms while he shook.

Whether he acknowledged her presence or not, she knelt down next to him and put her head on his shoulder. A fresh set of roses sat on the surface of the ground under the headstone.

_ESPERANZA MARIE VALDEZ_

_1969 - 1999_

_Loving Daughter and Mother_

Leo wrapped himself tighter in his jacket. "I figured you would find me."  
"Hey," she said weakly. "Fame, power and money all have their perks."

"Yeah," he said in a thick voice and sniffled. "_Mami, aqui es Piper. Se dijo hola para me._"

"Hello Ms. Valdez," Piper said, wrapping her hands around Leo's shoulders. "I'm Leo's girlfriend. You might know this already - but you raised an amazing son. I'm so lucky to have him in my life. And I can't imagine how I would live without him. Thank you for living and giving me this wonderful person to love."

He sniffled and hugged her tighter. Even without knowing, her own tears slowly started to form and cascade down the sides. She didn't know how long they knelt at the grave before Leo sighed and stood up. "Ten years, huh, mom? Seems like it's been forever. I miss you. I miss you so much." A new stream of fresh tears started to roll down his cheeks. "And I'm sorry you didn't get to see me grow up. Hell, I don't even know if I'll even see myself grow up. My days are just as numbered as yours. Maybe, I'll join you soon. I love you mom," he sucked in his air and managed out one last sentence. "_Adios, mama_."

* * *

Fire.

His chest felt like it was on fire. Yet he couldn't stop running.

"Hey little fucktard!" the gang of idiot abusers and their political leader Tavian yelled behind him with other jeers and catcalls. "Get back here so we can beat the shit out of you!"

Leo turned sharply on the corner and his mail carrier backpack slammed into his side and knocked the air of out him. His legs and lungs were burning but he wouldn't stop running for the world.

Apparently some intelligence had crept into the pea sized brains of his abusive peers because one appeared at the other end of the alley Leo was running down. He skidded to a stop and spun around, to find the rest of the group was close behind him. _Shit_.

Tavian was not with them today. "Hey," Leo skittered nervously. "Where's your big ass leader?"

"Tavian isn't our leader anymore," Mayor of Losertown ground his knuckles menacingly. "I am."

"Fan-_fucking-_tastic, why didn't I get the note? I could have attended your coronation ceremony." Leo's mouth sometimes just couldn't keep itself shut for his own good. Well, he figured they were already going to beat the shit out of him, he could at least get a few Valdez-style insults out first.

"No escapes this time," Bad breath advanced on him. "You're gonna get it, Valdez."

"Haha," even his laugh sounded nervous. "You don't want to beat up a guy with heart disease, do you?"

_Crack_.

He tripped fell backwards into a wall. Blood poured out of his nose and into his mouth, and it felt like they'd broken his nose in half.

Still, he sucked in the blood and managed "You've lost your touch, Little Balls."

"You're gonna regret that," Bad breath heaved an angry huff. "I'll knock your lights out."

"Oh yeah?" He picked up his head and flicked his finger at him. "Fuck you."

_Crack_.

Someone kicked him in the ribs this time and he could feel a bruise forming on his left eye. He spat out some blood and then faced up to spit the rest at the group. "Took out my last baby tooth, thanks."

"I'll knock out your wisdom teeth," Pea brain threatened.

"Take mine, maybe you'll actually gain some intelligence." He grinned with blood over his teeth. One of them punched him on the square of the jaw and knocked his feet down.

"You gonna apologize to me?" Country Cowboy missing four teeth picked up his chin.

Leo just smiled and hissed "I have _STDS_."

_Slap_.

"You ladies really can do all you want, I'm going to die this year anyways."

One of them stopped punching him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I have a fucking contagious disease called _Urafuckingidiot_, you might have caught it too."

Someone kicked him in the ribs again and made him gasp in pain. His heart beat frantically, the dull fire returning to his chest.

"No he doesn't," Bad breath said. "I stole into your file."

"Wow, you actually do have something up there in that wasteland of a space you call a brain." Another kicked him in the ribs again and he grimaced.

"_Wittle _ poor _Valdez_," he taunted. "His _wittle_ mommy burned in a big factory fire. Did she? I bet she burned, you little dick. And you don't even have a father listed, like you never had one. What, your mommy was some little _whore_ and then had you? Maybe that explains why you're such a loser."

"I wonder what went wrong with your parents then," Leo coughed up more blood. "Because they created the most A-class douchebag that has ever walked this planet. If I were your father I would have kicked you seven ways sunday until you saw the light of Jesus coming down to save you. Bless your mother for ever keeping you in her house, you meatheaded little _prick_."

"My name is Dylan," he punched him in the nose again and let loose a new stream of blood. "You better apologize to me you fucktard."

"Sure," Leo spat at him. "Right after you suck my dick, you asskissing bastard."

"That's it, I'm gonna-" Dylan raised his fist again.

"HEY!" Someone yelled. "WHO THE _FUCK_ DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?"

It was almost comical at how fast all five goons spun around at the voice. At the end of the alley stood an angry looking, pissed, beautiful girl.

"Piper!" Leo yelled. "Get away from here! Go! _Go_-"

One of the cronies slapped a hand over his mouth and he struggled to get his hands free.

"Go get her," Dylan told the Pea brained one. The other gaped. "That's the girl from Valdez' photo!"

"Get her!" Dylan barked. Leo saw Piper dash down the other alley and sprint away, with two lumbering guys after her.

The other two held Leo down while Dylan got up close to his face and grinned crookedly. Compared to the others, he wasn't as bad looking, with blonde cropped hair and glinting blue eyes like another blue eyed blond guy Leo never liked, except for the cruel sneer on his face that ruined it all. Jason was actually a nice guy, while this was not.

One removed the hand over Leo's face. All that was left to do was to glare as intensely with as much hatred boiling in his eyes as he could.

From one of the other alleys he heard a scream. "Piper!" He screamed back, his voice nearly hoarse.

A few moments later the two came back with a struggling girl and a hand over her mouth. The one on the left had a bruise forming over his eye where it looked Piper had kicked the guy in the face. She met his eyes frantically and his fists clenched.

Dylan walked over and stroked his fingers along Piper's chin. "Such a pretty face," he said. "Deserving of someone as handsome. You don't deserve that trash pile heap over there," he nudged with his chin towards Leo. "What do you say, girly?"

Piper spat in his face with deadly accuracy. "Burn in hell, you dickheaded piece of _shit_."

"Naughty naughty," he tapped her nose disapprovingly. "You shouldn't use foul language for a lady like you."

"Oh yeah?" Piper challenged. "_Fuck you_."

"I'd love if you did it to me instead," he winked and ran a hand down the side of her shoulder.

"Don't you touch her you _son of a bitch_!" Leo yelled. "If you lay a finger on her I _swear_ to fucking hell I will chop them all off!"  
Dylan waved a lazy hand in his direction. "Don't mind him, darling. He doesn't know all the fun we're gonna have."

"I'd rather you let me die and burn in hell for all eternity," Piper sneered. "Than be seen with some shitty ass fuckhole like _you_."

A vein popped in his forehead. "Very well. Roy, Harv, you stay here with Valdez. Keep him under control and use force if you need to. I'm gonna have a little _fun_ with girly here."

He went to stroke Piper's face, but she bit his hand. "I hope someday I have the pleasure of taking a lighter and chopping off your balls and burning them." she growled.

"Feisty one," Dylan observed. "Let's see how your feistiness serves with me."

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" Leo bellowed. "FIGHT ME YOURSELF, YOU SHITSTONED DICKHEADED _COWARD_!"

"Come with me, beautiful," Dylan tugged her away and behind the other alleyway.

Leo struggled furiously against what was left of the guys. "I'll fucking kill _all_ of you," he growled. "I will hunt down each of you and kill you. _I will kill all of you_."

Most of them snorted. "You're a wimp, you would never even find me."

"Wanna try me?" His eyes burned with so much hatred one of them stepped back. "Because if it ever becomes the last thing I do, it will be killing all of you."

Across the alley he heard Piper scream. Then a slap and "You like it, bitch! Beg for it you slut!"  
"Fuck off!" She yelled back. Leo heard Dylan groan and assumed Piper had kicked him in the nuts.

"Kick him again!" Leo suggested helpfully.  
"Let go of me-" Piper screamed an even shriller scream, and then Dylan's laughter.  
Leo lost it. He ripped his wrist out of the grip of one of the other guys and slammed the guy's head into the wall. He crumbled like a puppet cut from their strings.

Pea brain made a grab for him but Leo dived for his legs and tripped him, then gave him a well deserved hard-aimed kick in the face. "That's for being an asshole!" He kicked him in the face again. "And that's for being a dickheaded prick with his pants so far up his ass that you couldn't fucking stop being a _douche_!"

The next guy hesitated, but Leo didn't. He was smaller than any of them, but there was so much adrenaline he felt like he could have picked one of them up and tossed them over a wall. He punched the guy in the face, picked him up by the coat and slammed him into a dumpster.

The last guy ran. Leo didn't bother to chase him, as he raced for the other alley.

Dylan was having trouble controlling Piper, trying to get off her shirt while she relentlessly screamed and kicked him. Leo tore him off and punched him in the face so hard he heard his nose crack.

"My girlfriend is not a slut," Leo breathed out heavily. He punched him in the face again while Dylan groaned and tried to recover. "If you ever trying to pull something like that again, I'll cut off each of your balls and then chop off each finger you touched her with."

He got off him and shoved Dylan into the wall, effectively knocking him out, and Piper caught his arm before his knees gave way. "Are you okay?" she demanded.

"Are you?" He tried for a painful smile. "He didn't hurt you?" He mumbled.

"I punched him in the balls too hard," she promised. "It's okay. Don't worry about it, these guys won't mess with you anymore. My dad is probably gonna sue them until all they have left are cardboard boxes."

"Good," Leo coughed. "Let's go home, I feel like shit."

"You look like it too." Piper added.

He put his arm around her. "Yeah. Time for home. I'm thinking school isn't that important for tomorrow- or the rest of the week. That sounds nice."

* * *

At Leo's apartment, Piper changed into an extra pair of clothes she already had left in his drawers. Leo was trying to apply an ice pack to his black eye and bandaging up his knuckles, where he had broken skin punching the lights out of Dylan.

Piper kissed his neck from behind him. "You're my superhero today," she hummed.

"I had to be, there was no way in hell anybody was gonna hurt you," he adjusted the ice pack so he could nuzzled her nose. "_Ow_."

"Let me get that," she moved a chair to his side and took the ice pack from him, gently applying it to his eye. His nose wasn't broken, just sore. Although he suspected he'd broken the nose of the other guys by accident.

"I love you," Piper said.

"I love you too," Leo answered. "Did you call your dad?"

"Yeah. He's pissed."

"About what?" He might have raised his eyebrows if it hadn't hurt so much. "Because you ditched and ran off here, or because you almost got raped by a bunch of insolent little shitstains?"

"Neither," she moved the ice pack lower on his eye. "He was pissed because he didn't know I had a boyfriend."

"_Oh_."

"Yeah. Although he's not pissed at you, he was originally going to grill you like a proper dad when his daughter has a boyfriend, but he already thinks you're great because you saved me from the gang."

"I led you into it," Leo said guiltily. "I told you to run."

"Hey," she kissed his cheek on the side that wasn't so tender, and then kissed him formally. "Don't be so hard on yourself. There was no way you could have known I was coming."

"I guess," Leo sighed. "I'm going to take a shower, I'm all covered in blood of my enemies. As much as it's a trophy of victory, I don't appreciate the feeling."

She giggled. "Okay. Just don't slip and die in the shower for me, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," He got up and winced. "Man, I am so _sore_."

"Shower time," she pushed him in the direction of the shower. "You smell like blood of your enemies. Wash up."

"Call Percy and Annabeth too," he reminded her as he stepped in the tiny bathroom.

"I will!" she called.

Against the mirror he inspected his eye. The black bruise was already starting to fade, and his face didn't look like total trash as he expected. He lifted his shirt and saw the dark bruises where he'd been kicked in the ribs.

The mirror started to fog up, so he decided to actually get inside the shower. Hot water burned where his skin was sore, but he mostly welcomed the pain.

When he was done he just changed into a pair of his pajama pants (he figured he was just going to sleep anyways) and one of his camp shirts and stepped outside, drying his hair with a towel.

Piper wasn't in the kitchen anymore, so he walked into his bedroom and saw her sitting on his bed, wearing only her filmy satin cover-up (he could see her black bra underneath, which was a detail he hadn't exactly wanted to know) and a pair of short pajama shorts. "Hey," she said, still scanning the paper she was looking through. Leo kept shaking out his hair and drying it out with the towel as she looked up with dark eyes.

So, he sat down on the bed, she sighed as she put the magazine down. "Today was a bad day for both of us."

"Not for Super Valdez," he teased. At her dark look his smile frowned. "Why? What's wrong?"

Her hands nervously tugged at her shorts. "I just-" she glanced at her travel bag and then back at him. "Dylan he-" her fists clenched.

Before he was fully aware of his actions, he had already pulled her into a hug and shifted her onto his lap. "What do you need?"

She leaned back to look at him. "You."

"Well, luckily, you already have me. Anything else?"

"No," she said slowly. "It's just-" she shuddered. "When he kissed me-"

Leo reached down to kiss her gently, as he tried to pull away she bit on his lip and pulled him back. "He made me feel unclean," she amended. "I don't like it."

"What do you want me to do?" Leo asked, like her request was ridiculous. "Get a power sprayer and hose you until you feel clean?"

"Not like that," her eyes darted back to her bag. "But would you let me?"

"Pipes, do whatever it is you feel you need to do." Leo ran his fingers through her hair and played with one of the braids.

At first he sensed her hesitation, but then the dark shade in her eyes lightened. With the tips of her fingers she pushed him backwards into the bed and his head hit the back of his pillow, each step kissing him. He didn't try to stop or intercept her the entire way.

For some reason, apparently his shirt annoyed her, because she lifted it over his head and threw it across the room and then went back to kissing him. His spine felt like an electric highway with each touch on his bare chest sent little electric shocks to his brain.

She tucked herself under and pushed him on top, moving her neck so he had no choice but to move down there. Her hands across his chest, she could feel his heart beating frantically against his ribs.

When her hands snaked down to his pants Leo stopped. "Piper," he said in a warning tone. She fiddled with the top of her own shirt and tore it off, giving him a curious expression. "Piper," he repeated, a little louder the second time.

"What, are you worried the neighbors are going to hear us?" she smirked in a way that was neither innocent or cuddly-cute and matched her not-so-innocent blush.

"Actually most of my neighbors are already on their vacation in the Bahamas," Leo said. "But that's not what I'm talking about."

"Please," she pleaded.

"Pipes-" Leo protested. She pouted, doing the cute thing with her lips that curled and her eyes sparkled like a set of adorable puppy dog eyes he couldn't resist.

"Ah fuck, whatever. I hope you got your own stuff because the Valdez train usually runs down chastity lane."

"'Atta boy," Piper purred and kissed his neck.

* * *

They decided to name the time period coming after _super-sexy time _and made it _super-cuddly time_. Because that's basically all they did afterwards; cuddle.  
Leo ran his fingers through Piper's hair, which was blown all over her face in all different directions. "I think you've got an extreme case of bedhead, miss."

She blew one of the curls on the top of his forehead. "As do you, beadhead sir."

He put his chin on the top of her head while she put her head against his chest to listen to his heart. After a few moments of silence Leo asked; "So...it didn't hurt?"

Piper slapped his arm in response. "Stop worrying about me, you idiot! You're the one dying of fucking heart cancer."

"Pipes, I don't have heart cancer."

"Blah. You're still dying."

"Not yet," He kissed her nose and nuzzled it. "If my heart's still beating, so am I."

From the other room they heard the click of a door and the creaky swing of his apartment door. A few moments later Percy poked his head into the room. "You guys okay?"

"A little better than okay," Leo groaned and stretched out, his back still sore. "But yeah, I'm fine."

Annabeth poked her head in behind him. "Holy _shit_ they just had sex, Percy we should leave."

At that comment Piper sat up and covered herself with the covers. "No we didn't!"

"I thought we did," Leo whined.

"Not helping!" she shot him a nasty glare.

"Oh," Percy's cheeks turned pink, the same color as Leo's ears. "Uhm...we're just gonna...go. Get dressed or something."

Annabeth slammed the door to the room and the two ran into the kitchen.

"You smell like sex," Piper commented as Leo stood up off the bed. He narrowed his eyes and stuck his tongue out at her.

"Same to you," He shoved on his pants and tossed her the shirt she had been wearing earlier. "Put on your clothes."

Piper frowned and put on Leo's sweatshirt instead. "Blah. You're so demanding."

"Says you."

She threw a pillow at him. "Kidding, kidding! I was kidding!"

"You better be," she muttered. "Come on, Annabeth and Percy want to talk."

When they walked out Percy immediately blurted out; "You two smell like sex."

Piper gave him a stink eye and Leo hissed at him. Annabeth made a face. "Well, I'm happy you two have found other ways to occupy your time. But what I came here to discuss is-"

"Annabeth," Piper warned.

Percy sighed. "My mom insisted. I decided we would better discuss it as as group, seeing as me and Annabeth are his best friends and Piper is Leo's girlfriend. The doctors at Calvary only have a few options left for you, Leo."

"Those being," Annabeth picked up. "You could try to get on the list for a heart transplant. However, the scarcity right now makes that list very small. And I'm not even sure our insurance would cover all of it. Not to mention the new heart might reject the new body, which would be very bad for your already shitty health."

Leo grunted and Piper took his hand and squeezed it.

"The second option is to attempt a corrective surgery. You'd keep your current heart, but the likelihood of that succeeding is not enough for any of is to want to try. I've already crossed this one out."

"And lastly," she looked down at her lap. "The last option is to do nothing. Keep you on meds and painkillers, but in less than a year, the doctors are predicting your heart is simply going to go out and no amount of inhalers or pills is going to stop that. You'd be dead in less than a minute; and there would be no way of knowing when or how to avoid it."

"Basically," Percy summed up. "Leo, _get your shit together_. You are going to _die_ in a year. None of us want this or particularly want to deal with it either, but you have to be the one to accept it and try to take steps to keep you breathing for as long as possible."

Leo took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair. "Alright. What did you have in mind?"

"You'd need to check up in the medical center once a week," Annabeth instructed. "And you'll have to take an entire new assortment of medications. By that I mean you won't be taking just one; you'll be taking entire sets. To keep your arteries clear you'll take so many blood thinners there's a chance you'll be dizzy most of the time. Not to mention half of these drugs will probably give you sleeping problems, and enhance your chance of anxiety attacks to almost triple the amount you already have."

Piper let out a tiny sigh. "He already doesn't sleep well. I've seen him get up at random hours in the night and go get a bottle of sleeping pills."

Leo frowned. "You're supposed to be asleep."

"Yeah, well, buddy, you aren't exactly the most silent of bedtime walkers."

"Would it work, though?" he asked.

"The likelihood you'll live to the end of the summer, and your nineteenth birthday?" Annabeth shrugged. "Statistically, one to a million. That's six months left. I advise you use your time left carefully."

* * *

The one good perk from his new medical situation; he didn't have to go to gym class anymore.

He wasn't even allowed to attend school anymore either; the amount of anxiety he had on the first week of the new prescription kept him from going to school anyways. He figured anyways; six months to live, I don't want to go to school anyways.

Most of the time he was in a shitty mood. The meds gave him bad depression problems and many times he was cranky and irritable for all hours of the day.

Piper moved into his apartment with him to keep an eye on him. Percy got him an emergency alert button that he kept tied to his neck incase he felt like he was having an attack.

After a particularly bad night of dreams and digesting practically an entire bottle of sleeping pills, Leo came out of his bedroom around noon with a towel over his face and in nothing but his pajama shorts.

"Good morning," Piper chirped cheerfully from the couch. "I mean, good afternoon. How's today, sleepyhead?"

"Shitty," Leo groaned and nearly walked into the fridge. "Ah, _fuck_."

"Come on, we're gonna go to the movies," she said. "You wanted to see the new Iron Man movie. The second one, I think?"

"No," Leo groaned. "I can't even see straight, let alone watch an entire fucking _ Iron Man movie_."

"You forgot to take your pain meds," she chided. "Your headache will feel better."

"Leave me alone!" Leo finally snapped. "Why the fuck does everyone care so much about me? I'm going to die by the end of the year and I don't fucking give a damn, you guys are trying so hard to keep me alive. I just want to _die_!" On the last word his voice cracked and he collapsed into one of the chairs and started shaking. "I want it to be over, okay?"

Her arms were around him and embracing him almost on instant. "Leo, we don't want you to suffer," she picked up his face and he noticed she was crying too, suddenly feeling a wave of guilt because he hadn't realized that as hard as it was on him, it was just as hard on Piper to handle. "Maybe we're selfish, because none of us want you to d-die. If you wanted it to end you'd just have to tell us and we'd stop-"

Gently, like she was a porcelain doll, he picked her up and kissed her. "I'm sorry," he murmured. "I'm just not having the best of days, okay? My chest feels like it's imploding, and I practically feel like I'm going to vomit every ten minutes. I just can't help but take it out on everyone else."

"I know," she kissed his nose. "That's why I'm here. Movie time?"

"_Hunnggghhnn_," Leo said. "I'm not really up for walking. And I used the gas mask basically the entire night- so this idea isn't sounding too appetizing right now, sorry Pipes."

She frowned but nodded. "That's okay, I can get the movie from my dad."

"How would-?"

"He was one of the people in the movie, _duh_," she rolled her eyes at him like he should have known that already. "I think he sent a copy in the mail, I just thought you might want to get out of the house at some point."

"Not today," Leo managed, and grabbed his stomach. "_Hunnggh_, I'm gonna throw up."

"Bathroom for you," she got off his lap. "I'll get the movie."

At the end of the movie, Leo looked even paler than before. Piper kissed him once and asked "What did you think of the movie?"

"I," he said. "think that I am Iron Man."

"What," she scoffed. "Because you like building things?"

"No," Leo said. "He had a dangerous heart condition that could have ended his life at any point. And he kept fighting it, like I'm trying to do. The only difference I see between us is that while Iron Man might have the resources to save himself, I, do not."

* * *

On the last day of '_school_,' Piper made him go back to clean out his locker. The last week had been one of his better ones, so he was able to walk outside without his oxygen tank trailing behind him like a lost dog.

Most of the kids had already packed up their lockers and had gone home. Piper had a giant trash bag and his backpack to fill up with things to keep and things he would toss out.

The ancient smell of rotting textbooks and musty paper emptied out of his old locker; along with broken binders, lost papers that had fallen out of books, and all his old supplies.

Piper traced her hands on the photographs he had of her in his locker. "You kept these in here?"

"Yeah," he said, trying to gauge her unreadable expression. "Sometimes your smile was the only thing that got me through the day."

She dropped her hand. "That's sweet."

His finals were already taken; he had to come in on separate days and take the exams. Hopefully he'd passed all of them, despite being absent from school half the year. He'd also missed graduation; they'd mailed him a cap and high school diploma in the mail. All of his biggest plans for the end of highschool had crumpled. Go to graduation; nope. Wear his blue gown and walk up to get his diploma; also nope. Go to a graduation party and get wasted; nope, nope, nope. While being wasted also get laid; well, he technically hadn't been wasted, but...

Leo shook his head and tossed his thoughts to the side. _Shut up Valdez_, he told himself. _Shut up and let people listen to you when you're dead._

* * *

"What do you mean I can't go to Camp?" Leo demanded.

"Calm down," Percy instructed from the table. Under her breath, Piper muttered "I told you he wasn't going to like it."

Annabeth put her palms up like the matter was already decided. "Chiron said as long as you're on a house-"

"Fuck that! I am not going to sit here on my ass and pretend everything is fucking daisies and butterflies, if I don't go to camp I swear on my life, or what's left of it anyways, I will refuse to keep up the current plan."  
Piper gasped. "You heard me, I'm serious. The only thing I've been looking forward to ever since this whole shitty thing started is the summers I spent at camp. And this is going to be my last one, so you better make it fucking _spectacular_."

* * *

Leo went back to Camp Halfblood that summer.

* * *

Without meaning to the summer flew by- School was over for most of them, and many campers wouldn't be returning next year. Among them would be Piper, Annabeth, Percy, and Leo for his own obvious reasons.

Leo was allowed to attend camp. Chiron and him got into a furious debate if Leo should remain the cabin leader for Cabin 10, which he won. However, part of the the agreement was the next counselor, Jake Mason, would be following him around and learning the duties of a counselor.

"Fucking hell," Leo said one day. "Everyone's been avoiding me like I'm a contagious disease."

"They don't know you," Piper assured.

"No, because they know I'm dying," Leo leaned on the side of the pier so far Piper had the urge to reach forward and pull him back. "They don't want to get attached so when my timer runs out they don't want to be part of the repercussions. Fuck _everything_."

"Well, I'm sticking around," Piper kissed the top of his curly brown hair. "So are Percy and Annabeth. If you have at least us, I don't see a reason to complain. We love-_ I love_ - you enough to make up for those who don't."

* * *

Piper helped him pack up the last day of camp. He moped around and tried to stick around a little longer than usual, until Percy started the car and the four of them backed out of Camp Halfblood and drove away.

Leo watched the camp fade away. "Guess that's it," he sighed.

"Don't worry," Annabeth advised wisely. "You won't forget the camp, will you? Well neither will the camp. You might not be there in person, but it doesn't mean you should pretend it never happened and try to forget it. Live and remember while you can."

* * *

Somehow, by some god-given miracle, Leo got better. He didn't need to use a gas or oxygen tank, and the medical center slowly weaned him off the pills. Contrary to earlier belief, Leo looked like he was actually going to make it another year.

* * *

Percy found them cuddling again on the couch in Leo's apartment. He smiled and turned off the light before he walked out. If his friends were happy, so was he.

* * *

Annabeth started college in the fall. Percy started a part-time class along with a new job and trying to earn up to get him and Annabeth their own apartment in the city. Piper was stuck between going to college or going into one of her dad's programs of the arts; music, acting, or any other program he could easily get her up the ladder quickly.

"Music sounds cool," Leo said. "Although I'm not sure I'd want you kissing other guys on screen, I'd chop off their balls."

"I'll think about it," Piper promised. "Speaking of which, my dad is dying for me to visit. You'll be alright here?"

"I'm fine," Leo waved her off. "Go see your dad. I'm sure he misses you."

* * *

"Leo!" Annabeth cried. "What are you doing? Get back here, you stupid idiot!"

"I love snow!" Leo exclaimed, sliding into a tall snowbank. The streets of New York were clogged along with the chilly winter weather. "Snow snow, so much snow!"

"Calm down," Percy chided. "You're acting like you're six years old."

"Shove off," Leo tossed some snow at him and Percy slapped it out of orbit mid-air. "I can enjoy my snow."

"Let him be," Annabeth sighed. "He's just happy because Piper will be coming back tomorrow, and also because he just took his T.Y pill, which makes him really happy. Let him play in the snow."

They passed all the stores, lit up for Christmas and the new year. Leo pressed his face against the glass and stared at the trees. "Hey, can we get a tree this year?"

"Won't fit in our apartment, Paul would be pissed," Percy shot down his idea. "And you're apartment is smaller than that tree. It wouldn't fit through the _front door_."

"Party pooper, I could drill a hole in the ceiling!"

"I'm sure your neighbors upstairs would absolutely _love _ that," Annabeth said dryly.

"Bleh, you guys are no fun."

"Meanwhile you _ooze_ fun," Percy remarked sarcastically. "You keep window shopping, we're _not_ buying a tree."

Annabeth spotted a small store with ornaments in the windows and pulled them over for Percy to see. He glanced at a pair of silver owl hoop earrings through the shop window and couldn't tear his eyes away from it.

"Hey," he pointed. "What do you think of those?"

"They're beautiful," she gushed. "What do you think?"

"I think they'd look beautiful on you," Percy admitted. "Wanna check them out?"

"Sure," she agreed happily. "Hey Valdez, you fine if we go look at something real quick?"

"Yeah whatever," Leo kicked a ball of snow that exploded into flurries into the air.  
Annabeth pushed inside and the warm air from the shop raced out to greet them.

The shopkeeper was a nice old lady with giant framed glasses and a spindly frame. Percy thought if she walked outside in a breeze she would have toppled over from being so frail.

While Annabeth asked about the earrings, he happened to look outside. Leo was still sitting outside the shop and frowning, looking towards the street.  
Percy frowned too and leaned over a rack to get a better view. Leo glanced around and then panicked. He opened his mouth to shout and then took off.

Wordlessly, Percy darted out of the shop and into the street. Annabeth must have seen him run out because she followed him and stood out on the steps while he stood in the sidewalk and scanned them for Leo. "What's wro-"

They heard the squeal of tires before they saw the car. And Leo darting out on the street after a little five year old girl with brown hair in pigtails, meanwhile a car slipped over on the ice and raced right at them.

Annabeth screamed. Percy was already running, but _god damn_, even with his heart problems, Leo was too fast. He shoved the little girl out of the way and she flew across the street into a snowbank.

Leo wasn't so lucky. His feet skidded across the slick ice to stop him from falling, and he glanced at Percy only once and what he imagined was some sort of twisted smile, because then the front end of the car flew into him and sent him flying.

Percy must have yelled his name several times, desperately. The little girl who had gotten pushed started crying, maybe from fear or because she got hurt when she fell, he didn't know. Annabeth was dialing _911_ on her phone and running across the street to help the little girl.

To his surprise, the driver of the car didn't even get out. The tires squealed again and spun, and the car took off into another alley. Percy cursed loudly as he rolled Leo over off the asphalt.

His eyes were closed, and a trickle of blood was coming out of his mouth and his forehead where he'd slammed into the ground. His arm looked twisted, along with the blood pouring out from the sides of his neck.

Percy looked around. When the driver had hit him, Leo had slammed into the window of a shut down store right on the corner. Shards of glass covered the ground and probably cut him- his hands went over his chest, where dark red stains grew into lakes on his winter jacket.

"Dammit Valdez!" Percy shouted. "Why do you always have to save everybody? I thought you were the victim here, not the superhero!"

He swore he saw Leo's mouth twitch into a smile.

* * *

Annabeth rode in the ambulance with Leo and the little girl. Percy promised to meet her at the hospital after he got his parents and called Piper.

The little girl shivered in the ambulance while the siren wailed and the truck raced down the street. One of the paramedics was trying to keep Leo breathing, and Annabeth was blinking out tears.

"Why he save me?" the girl tugged on the bottom of Annabeth's jacket.

"He's too worried about other people for his own good," she sighed. "God bless you Valdez, you stupid idiot."

The girl stuck her thumb in her mouth. "My mommy says _idiot_ is a bad word."

"Well, tell her I'm sorry I said it." She crouched down so she was at the same height as the little girl. "What's your name, sweetie?"

"May," she looked at her with innocent blue eyes. "Is your boyfwiend be okay?"

"He's not my boyfriend," Annabeth said. "Although you might see him when we get there. Leo's more like, my brother. My annoying brother that I love so very much."

She sucked her thumb a little longer. "I scwaped my elbow," she picked it up for Annabeth to see. On the corner of her jacket the edge had ripped up when she skidded into the snowbank and Annabeth saw a little blood coming out.

"It's okay sweetheart, we're going to get you all cleaned up." Annabeth promised. She looked one more time at Leo's still body. "We're going to get this all cleaned up."

* * *

"Dammit Piper, pick up," Percy muttered into the phone.

Piper picked up on the fourth ring. "_Hello_?" she asked in a tired voice. "_Who_-" she yawned.

"Piper, it's Percy," Percy hoped his urgent tone would snap her awake. "Leo's hurt. He's in the hospital, you need to fly to New York right now."

Apparently she woke up pretty quickly after that. "_Address and room number, I'll be there in a few hours_."

Off to the side he heard her say; "_Coach! I need the next boarding flight to New York City, ASAP_."

* * *

Annabeth helped May find her parents. Percy found her in the guest room where Leo would be coming in after he came out of the E.R.

Finding May liked to suck on things, Annabeth got her a few lollipops from the receptionists desk up front. She was happily licking through a blue colored one and kicking her legs on a chair.

"Hey," Percy kissed her when he walked in. "How is he?"

"Nothing yet," Annabeth answered him.

"Eeww!" May squealed. "Cooties! Kissy kissy, Anna, is that your _booooyfriend_?"

"Percy, this is May," Annabeth pointed to the little girl. "May, this is my boyfriend Percy."

"Hey May," Percy saluted her and May giggled, sliding off her chair and hiding under the legs of the furniture.

"Where are her parents?" Percy whispered to her.

"I'm trying to help them figure that out," Annabeth whispered back. "So far they know she is May Patra, and she is five years old. Last I heard they were trying to get a hold of her parents."

Truth be told, a few minutes later a worried looking couple came into the room. "May!" What Annabeth assumed was May's mother embraced her daughter into a hug.

"You must be Annabeth," the man with her said. He was tall, she noticed. "You left us a message from your phone saying you had found our daughter. What happened?"

"She was standing on the street," Percy answered, maybe because he was defensive, or he felt he needed to announce his presence. "I saw my friend run after her and push her out of the way; He's in the E.R. right now." He sounded angry and bitter, Annabeth noticed.

The mother put her hands over her mouth while May played between her legs. "Oh no."

"He'll be alright," Annabeth assured, although it didn't sound all reassuring to her or anybody else. "Valdez is a fighter. He wouldn't have lived this long if he wasn't."

* * *

Most of the hallways were quiet. Piper's shoes made tiny tapping noises as she walked up to the main desk.

"Can I help you?" The blonde middle-aged secretary at the desk asked.

"I'm looking for Leo Valdez, room _43C_," Piper said.

The woman checked on her computer. "Are you a family member?"

"No. He doesn't have any," she said impatiently.

"Parent or guardian?"

"No."

"Well, I'm afraid-"

"I'm his _girlfriend_," Piper said, irritated. "I just flew across the country to come here in this hospital to see him, I'm tired and I'm not in the best of moods. I don't care how but I need to see him."

She glanced around for a moment. "What's your name?"

"Piper McLean."

She checked something on her computer. "You're listed here as an emergency contact under family, you know." She handed Piper a badge. "Calm down, dear. I'm sure he's fine. He should be resting."

"Thank you," she almost felt like crying.

* * *

"Hey," Piper whispered as she walked in. A curtain was pulled over one of the beds, she assumed the one he was in.

Annabeth appeared behind one of the curtains with tears in her eyes and hugged her. "It was awful," she choked. "We were here for hours, this idiot is so stupidly brave."

Percy was on the other side of the bed, pacing, a hand on his chin and frowning. "Shouldn't he have woken up by now?"

"The doctors said he suffered a serious trauma to his head," Annabeth reminded him. "He'll wake up, though."

Percy finally seemed to notice her. "Piper! You made it."

"Yeah," she smiled tiredly. "Any good news at all?"

"He's alive," Annabeth said.

"Barely," Percy grumbled.

Leo groaned from the bed. The three of them immediately turned their attention to him, but he made no other motion so Percy went back to pacing.

* * *

"_Piper_," her phone called her.

"Dammit Annabeth," Piper grumbled. "It's three a.m. What now?"

"_The hospital just called me and said he's gone into cardiac arrest,_" Annabeth's voice choked. "_He lost too much blood yesterday. Now they're performing emergency heart surgery_."

Piper sat up straight in her bed (actually, Leo's bed technically, she was staying at his apartment) and tried to remember how to breathe. "What?" Her voice came out whispery.

"_I'll call you and we'll take a visit in the morning_," Annabeth told her. "_Try to sleep._"

She hung up.

* * *

Piper didn't sleep well that night.

* * *

The next morning when she pulled into the parking lot, and went up to Leo's room, she saw a tearful and smiling Annabeth.

"They did it," she embraced her in another hug. "I don't know how, but they managed to give him a heart transplant."

Piper paused. "I thought you guys didn't have enough money to pay for-?"

"No we didn't," Annabeth said. "But the parents of the little girl- the one he saved- apparently they're very well off. They paid for everything- and they've bumped him to a very high place on the list, to make sure that he gets out of here okay."

* * *

To celebrate they had dinner at the Jacksons. However, Percy kept going back to one point; "How come he hasn't woken up yet?"

"The hospital said they'd call," Sally chided from the other end of the table. "I'm sure Leo's fine."

As if on cue, the phone rang from the counter. "That's probably the hospital," Piper said cheerfully. "He most likely just woke up, calm down, Percy."  
Percy frowned like he didn't believe that.

Piper picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"_Jackson residence?_"

"Actually, this is Piper McLean," Piper said. "Are you Calvary Medical?"

"_Yes_," the other receiver said. "_You are a family member or guardian?_"

"Yes," she agreed. "Has he woken up yet?"

The phone line paused as if it was holding it's breath. Percy watched her with concern from the table as she talked to the line.

Her hand slipped off the counter and she blinked back tears. "Oh," she said, the air in her voice felt more like trying to squeeze itself out of a narrow hose. "Is that all?"

"_Yes. I'm sorry_," the line paused again. "_Good night_." _Click_.

She couldn't turn around to face them, instead she hugged the phone to her chest and let out a tiny sob. Sally heard it and came over to hold her, patting her hair and resting her head on her shoulder.

"What happened?" Percy demanded.

"He isn't going to wake up," Piper squeezed out the last of her air. "They c-called to say he's slipped into a coma."

* * *

For the third week in a row, she went in to visit him. She put new flowers in the vase by his window and looked outside at the piling snow on the rooftops and the sound of Christmas carolers.

As per usual, she took her seat next to Leo's bedside while he dozed silently. There was always a monitor on him and his new heart; so far the new replacement hadn't rejected him while he kept breathing. His eyes remained closed.

She put her hands around his cold ones and rubbed them. "Wake up for me, Valdez," she pleaded. "Please, for me?"

His eyelids didn't even flutter.

Instead, she watched the monitors. His heart beat steadily in one of the monitors, while the others showed his pulse and brain activity. She didn't know what most of them did or what they meant, except that her Leo wasn't going to wake up soon.

Before, when he was dying of heart failure, it had been terrifying to think his heart could stop at any moment and cease to live. Now, it seemed even more agonizing to watch him be stuck between the living and the not.

After a few more moments she stood up and pressed their foreheads together. "Wake up," she whispered. "Please."

* * *

Three weeks turned into a month, then two months, the New Year broke, and Leo kept sleeping.

* * *

Four months.

* * *

Five months.

* * *

Six months.

* * *

Finally, one night, while she was dreaming he visited her.

"Piper," he said. "Piper, can you hear me?"

"Leo?" she asked tentatively. "Oh my god! You're awake!"

She ran forward to hug him but she passed through him like mist. "L-Leo?"

"I'm just a figment," he said sadly. "A messenger. I want you to _let go_, Pipes."

"Let go? Let go of what?"

"Me," he spread his hands out. "Piper, I'm suffering. Everything _hurts_. I can see you around me and I want to wake up- how much I want to _wake up_-" He picked up her hands and held them up to his cheek as if he could touch her. His eyes were so filled with anguish she felt pain in her own chest. "My body is on fire, Pipes. I love you so much- but..."

"I can't," her voice trembled. "How would I live?"

"How am I?" He managed to smile. "I miss you. _I love you so much_. But it's time to let me go. Keeping me here is- it makes me suffer. I don't want to live this way anymore."

"Leo-"

"I love you Pipes," he stroked her cheek with his thumb. "Maybe someday you'll join me."

When she woke up she broke into tears.

* * *

"Hey," she said quietly. He hadn't moved from the day before.

"I had a dream about you last night," she kept talking. "Crazy, huh?" Her laugh sounded pathetic. "You...you told me I had to let you go. So you could be free and I'd have to live without-" She sucked in a breath.

"What I'm trying to say," Piper managed. "Is that I'm letting you. You're free now. I let you go." She wrapped her hands around his cold ones and let the tears fall off her cheeks and into his lap. "I love you so much, I love you enough to let you go. I love you, _I love you_..."

Too soon, it was time to go. "I am going to miss you," she said with finality. "My little repair boy."

Out of the corner of her eye, she could have sworn his mouth twitched into a smile, as if to say; _I love you too. I'll see you someday.  
_As she left, Piper knew it would be her last visit with Leo.

* * *

Not surprisingly, she got a call later in the night and told her Leo Valdez had passed. For a moment she said nothing, thanked the line caller, and hung up.

Then, for the longest time, she put her head down and cried.

* * *

That night, the transplant heart Leo had gotten after waiting for so long rejected him and the medication.

She remembered her promise to Leo how she would never give up on him, even when his heart would, and she felt the guilt rise in her chest and nearly suffocate her.

His heart had given up on him, and so had she.

* * *

According to his last testimony, he wanted all of the things in his apartment donated to Goodwill or to Salvation army. All of his tiny funds was split into Piper's, Percy's, and Annabeth's. Piper refused to take her share until she broke down and finally took it, spending the money to buy a tiny memorial for Leo to take.

The three of them emptied out his apartment. Piper stole all of the sweatshirts she could find, and kept them with her. None of them smelled like Leo. Just laundry detergent and air freshener. Still, they reminded her of him.

Annabeth gave her all of Leo's photos. She hung them in her room back at L.A.

During the year she managed to meet up with Jason. He asked her how life was, she hugged him and said her and Leo had gotten together.  
"That's great!" He smiled earnestly for her.

"Yeah," she choked and tried not to cry. "It's great."

* * *

One year passed.

* * *

Two years.

The year Annabeth suggested she try for therapy or a healing council. To being, Annabeth told her to visit the girl Leo had saved that eventually led to his sudden death; May.

Annabeth told her she'd have to 'forgive May' because apparently the grudges she was holding was because of the hatred she was holding onto because of his death.

May was a sweet girl. She was seven now, curious in everything in the world. Maybe what made her so special was because the moment Piper walked in the door, the little girl hugged her, despite not knowing who she was or having met her before.

She talked with May a little. She couldn't stay mad at her, or blame her. It had, honestly, been Leo's decision.

"Everyday," May told her with bright eyes. "I think of how your boyfriend saved me. And how thankful I am that he did. If I ever got to meet him again, I'd like to thank him."

"I think Leo did the right thing," Piper said. "He saved a wonderful girl."

She smiled in her pigtails and the two gaps in her teeth where she'd recently lost her front teeth. "Thank you, Piper."

For a young girl, she was soft spoken and dictated herself in a way that Piper could only describe as someone older. Her father had often said some people are wiser because they are old souls; somebody who's had the run before and has more wisdom in their minds than others. He told her she was a young soul; so reckless and driven, she was just breaking out her spirit for the first time.

* * *

Right after, Annabeth managed to track down the owner of the license plate and whoever had run over Leo. "I want you to talk with whoever it is," she ordered. "And I want you to forgive them. The only way you can heal from this is if you get past whatever is causing you to keep this fresh. Forgive and forget, Piper. But don't forget Leo."

Very tired and annoyed, Piper sat outside of a door for a small colonial house with white shutters and a pristine white painted door. So far, no one had answered the doorbell.

"This was a waste," she muttered under her breath.

The door opened to reveal a middle aged woman with blonde hair and bright blue eyes. "Hello dear, can I help you?"

"Yes," Piper unfolded the piece of paper in her hand. "Are you Mrs. Ritze?"

"That would be me," she said. "Is there anything you need?"

"There is, actually," Piper glanced down at the paper. "Did you happen to have any sort of car accidents about three years ago?"

She frowned. "No, although that was about the time my son was borrowing my car. Is there something he did that he never told me?"

Piper swallowed. "Almost three years ago, your son hit my boyfriend in a car accident. He passed away two years ago due to a trauma in his head that caused him to go into a coma. My friend is trying to help me get over and '_help me heal_' by going to the driver and talking to them. Is your son around?"

The woman gaped. "I'm so sorry dear," she put her hand on Piper's shoulder comfortingly. "I'll go get him. Here, come inside, it's freezing out."

While the mother went to fetch her son, Piper looked around the house from the foyer. It was a nice house, with a clean smell to it, along with traces of vanilla. Not a bad place.

"Mom, I don't want to-" A blond haired boy stumbled into the room followed by his mother.

"This girl here says you hit her boyfriend with your car a few years ago," she said. "What's your name, dear?"

"Piper," she said. The boy glanced up, and then the recognition hit Piper.

"You," she growled. "You- _Dylan_."

He frowned before he recognized her too. "Valdez's girl?"

She marched forward as if to hit him. "You- You nearly killed my boyfriend. You jumped him in the alley you evil son of a _bitch_, you beat him to _nothing_!" She screamed. "You dragged me away screaming and raped me behind a wall _you worthless piece of scum_!" Each word came out punctuated like blows, although she neither struck nor punched him.

"Dylan!" His mother glanced at her son, horrified.

"You let him lie there, he was dying of heart disease and you just let it _happen_!" She screamed shrilly. "I came here to forgive the person who killed my boyfriend in a car accident, but I can and will _never _ forgive you for what you did!"

"Piper," he pleaded. He reached for her shoulder as she went to the door and heaved it open and nearly hit him in the face.

She flinched back, so much hatred burning in her eyes. "Don't even touch me, you fucking piece of _trash_. Go back to being the _douche and asshat you are_."  
She slammed the door behind her and went to her car, where she broke down. Not only was Leo dead, but the one who hated him most had done it.

* * *

Percy secretly told her it was okay not to forgive Dylan, she'd just have to forgive herself. Slowly but surely, she started the long and treacherous path to healing.

* * *

Three years. Her first album published. "She has the sweetest voice," the critics said. "She has so much emotion in her songs- like she's had personal loss."

The album was titled; _Let Him Go_.

* * *

Four years.

* * *

Five years.

* * *

She finally got the strength to visit Leo's grave.

"Hey there Valdez," she laid down a brand new collection of flowers on the surface of his grave. Next to it, she put down another bushel of flowers for Esperanza. "Hey Ms. Valdez."

"Life's been busy," she said. "I finally got my singing career to take off." Her voice choked. "You would have loved Spain, Leo. Such a beautiful country."

"Anyways," she continued. "Special anniversary today, huh? It seems like it's been forever. You can't imagine how everything's changed. I swear, the world has only gotten crazier since you guys left it." With difficulty she wiped her eyes and sniffled. "I miss you, Valdez. I miss you every day. I don't go one day without thinking about you, and sometimes," she laughed a half-laugh. "Sometimes I swear I wake up next to you. But you're not. You never are."

"Annabeth and Percy don't visit much," and the list went on. "They just had their first kid- a boy, would you believe? And that girl, May, she stops by every once in a while to say hello. You'd be proud, she's growing into such the sweet young lady." At last her words failed her.

"I love you Leo," she said. "I love you today, tomorrow, and I'll love you until forever. Meet me there," she stood up. "I'll love you there too."

* * *

Six years.

* * *

Seven years.

* * *

Eight years.

One night, Piper woke up to the sound of crackling.

She looked around her room. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary- except the sudden heat she felt radiating from the walls.

"What the hell," she went to the door to go to the thermostat and turn down the heat when the handle burned her hand.

"Ahh," she gasped, looking at the blistered sides. "What the hell?"

Little streams of smoke and bits of ash like snow flake flurries poured from the sides of the door.

Fire.

"_Shit_," Piper dashed across the room and ran for her phone. The phone cord dialed, but no one answered. No way to call for help. She was trapped in her room.

Her cell phone had no service. _Figures_.  
More smoke billowed into the room. She started coughing, wondering why a fire alarm hadn't gone off yet.

Her vision turned yellow and she threw up and coughed more. The smoke burned her lungs viciously, like she was trying to inhale pure heat.  
In her hands she managed to get the old sweatshirt with the green school logo off her chair. Somehow, then, she knew it was over. She shrugged it on and lay on the floor, trying to breathe in and out while the smoke billowed higher into the night sky.

* * *

When he was gone it was like her life shifted without warning to black and white again. She lived in the shadows, watching the dull color and flavors of life pass by, leaving no trace they existed except the lingering smell of smoke.

Gone up in flames, her life, her love, and with each night she dreamed of him, his gentle hands running up and down her body, and with each kiss she felt like she was being consumed by a ravenous fire that had sparked in her heart and would never be quenched by any other dream or reality she lived. So thirsty. The fire raged on.

Eventually she went up in smoke too. Except, she embraced his arms this time and finally caught the whisper of his smoke and floated into nothingness with him.

* * *

Faulty alarm systems, the news said. The mansion of famous music artist Piper McLean burned to the ground. By the time the fire department arrived, the beloved artist had also vanished into the smoke and ash.

* * *

And somewhere, somewhere way up beyond the smoke, she gripped his hand and smiled in the clouds. Somewhere, somewhere happy, she'd followed his smoke and finally found a happy place where they could spend forever.

* * *

_Dear Valdez,_

___I miss you everyday. I kept listening to that song, dying for you to come back, wondering, how I'd be able to see you again. Smoke. You've gone up in smoke and vanished into the clouds. I wish to join you, but I don't know how.  
So I kept listening. I wonder why the artist wrote it, or when or why, and I'm no closer to figuring out the answer to when you first gave it to me. I guess not everything can be explained in our life. Smoke could represent anything; wealth, fortune, family, friends, love...  
Maybe it means someone I loved. Catching smoke is impossible, I've realized. It slips out of your fingers and vanishes before you can grab it. Kind of like, you I supposed, because you slipped between mine.  
_

_____But you know what? I think I've finally figured out how to catch your smoke._

_______- Your Beauty Queen_


End file.
